The Ups and Downs of Friendship
by KaliAnn
Summary: Part 2 of 3rd Season Trilogy. Due to the Lila's past and ongoing actions problems are popping up with the friendships between the students in Ms. Bustier's class. With everyone on edge there's been an increase in powerful Akumas. Master Fu awakens the Friendship Miraculous Circle in hopes they can help mend the bonds between friends. Will they succeed or fail?
1. Honesty

**Welcome to the second half of the Season 3 trilogy. I wanted to inform you because it took so long for the CZMC to show up, I made up my own purposes for the Kwamiis. While a majority of the wielders will correspond to the show, I have changed some up because I didn't think they fit with my abstract ideas. So I hope you enjoy what I've come up with. **

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Paris. The sun was shining as a few lazy clouds floated in the sky. A gentle breeze wafted through the city as the citizens went about their lives, happy there had been no Akuma attacks so far today.

In Master Fu's residence, was typing an email to send to his daughter containing information about the Chinese Zodiac Miraculous Circle, the only one she didn't fully know about.

"I can't believe how long it took me to do this, but I'm glad I finished it," Master Fu said to himself. He doubled check to make sure he hadn't made any mistakes.

**Chinese Zodiac Miraculous Circle.**

Name: Fluff. Animal: Rabbit. Abstract: Time. Miraculous: Pocket Watch. Food: Chicory. Gender: Female. Personality. Scattered brain and loopy. Phrase: Clockwise/Counterclockwise. Weapon: Metamorphic Gel. Powers: Time Port/Time Freeze. Special Ability: Dancing.

Name: Mullo. Animal: Rat. Abstract: Innovation. Miraculous: Pendent. Food: Stew. Gender: Male. Personality: Farsighted and free-thinking. Phrase: Scurry Now/ Scurry Stop. Weapon: Jump Rope. Powers: Improvise/Sound Board. Special Ability: Resistance to drugs.

Name: Stompp. Animal: Ox Abstract: Wealth. Miraculous: Nose Ring. Food: Marshmallows. Gender: Male. Personality: Amiable and strong-willed. Phrase: Workday/Payday. Weapon: Helmet. Powers: Possession/Distribution. Special Ability. Tracking.

Name: Barkk. Animal: Dog. Abstract: Ethics. Miraculous: Collar. Food: Sauce. Gender: Female. Personality: Scrupulous and principled. Phrase: Bark Once/Bark Twice. Weapon: Baseball bat. Powers: Fateful Choices/Disciplining. Special Ability: Spirit detection.

Name: Sass. Animal: Snake. Abstract: Rhythm. Miraculous: Bangle. Food: Turkey. Gender: Male. Personality: Secure and perceptive. Phrase: Slither Forward/Slither Sideways. Weapon: Harp. Powers: Tuning/Forte. Special Ability: Sand Manipulation.

Name: Orikko. Animal: Rooster. Abstract: Leadership. Miraculous. Shoulder pad. Food: Mayonnaise. Gender: Male. Personality: Clever and dynamic. Phrase: Spurs Sharp/Spurs Dull. Weapon: Gauntlet Swords. Powers: Allegiance/Charisma. Special Ability: Spatial Awareness.

Name: Daizzi. Animal: Pig. Abstract: Etiquette. Miraculous: Pearl Bracelet. Food: Cotton Candy. Gender: Female. Personality: Tidy and well-bred. Phrase: Please Change/Thank You Change. Weapon: Bag of Tricks. Powers: Mannerism/Punishment. Special Ability: Fearless.

Name: Roarr. Animal: Tiger. Abstract: Passion. Miraculous: Panjas Bracelet. Food: Freshwater fish. Gender: Male. Personality: Passionate and lovable. Phrase: Let's Thrive/Let's Recede. Weapon: Metal Claws. Powers: Desires/Denying. Special Ability: Berserker Mode.

Name: Longg. Animal: Dragon. Abstract: Focus. Miraculous: Necklace. Food: Mints. Gender: Male Personality: Orderly and incorruptible. Phrase: Fire Up/Sizzle Down. Weapon: Foil. Powers: Blaze/Focal Point. Special Ability: Weather Manipulation.

Name: Ziggy. Animal: Goat. Abstract. Sacrificial. Miraculous: Hair Decorations. Food: Butter. Gender: Female. Personality: Patriotic and reverential. Phrase: Horns Give/ Horns Receive. Weapon: Bident. Powers: Offering/Martyr. Special Ability: Truth Seer.

Name: Kaalki. Animal: Horse. Abstract: Conservation. Miraculous: Cuff. Food: Sugar Water. Gender: Female: Personality: Conservative and high spirited. Phrase: Enclosure/Open Wild. Weapon: Horseshoes. Powers: Reuse/Reduce. Special Ability: Food Finder.

Name: Xuppo. Animal: Monkey. Abstract: Athleticism. Miraculous: Circlet. Food: Passion Fruit. Gender: Male. Personality: Sporty and sensual. Phrase: Right Swing/Left Hook. Weapon Gouda. Powers: Fighting Spirit/Blocking. Special Ability: Monkey sense.

The concept that connected all the Miraculous in this circle was the symbolism of what each animal represented in many different cultures around the world. The Kwamiis of this circle also had very diverse abstracts so they could help many different people.

Master Fu clicked send and then closed down the computer. He stood up and felt his back cracking. The old pain was starting to return. He needed to see that specialist again. He had a strong feeling he would need to return to the battlefield someday.

He walked into his workspace where Honorra and Wayzz were playing a game of hide and seek. The old man smiled remembering how his kwami finally gave in to keep Honorra from pestering him.

Honorra was hiding and Wayzz was searching for her. "You better have stayed in this room. No going into the rest of the residence." He peeked under the mat and she wasn't there.

He floated over and checked the shelves, searching among the items looking for her, but she wasn't there. He tapped his chin, trying to think of where a magpie would hide.

He heard a tiny giggle and looked towards the screen. He saw a bird shape on it and it had moved! He hurried over and phased through the screen and shouted, "Found you!"

Honorra giggled again. "You did! This time it only took you a minute and a half. You're getting better and better at this. Do you want to play again?"

Master Fu cleared his throat to alert the Kwamiis he was there. "I'm afraid your game has to come to an end. I'll be opening soon and I have a special job for the two of you."

Both Kwamiis blinked in surprise. The Great Guardian wanted them to do something important for him! They both hurried over, eager to help. "What do you want us to do Master?"

Master Fu looked at them with a serious expression. "I am concerned about the discord created by the girl who used underhand means to corrupt Trixx's wielder. Though some time has passed, consequences from her actions can cause a lasting ripple effect.

I need the two of you to go to Marinette and Adrien's school and check on their class. See if they are still affected by the liar's actions. I want you to also investigate the girl and see if she is planning something else."

Wayzz was surprised. What his wielder was proposing was very proactive for a Turtle.

Honorra was also stunned but understood why the Guardian was concerned. They had nearly lost a wielder due to the liar and it had greatly upset the dynamic between Ladybug and Chat Noir.

It was important to act before something else happened to divide the team. "You can count on us, Master. Come on Wayzz, if we hurry we can still catch the two before they head for school."

With a playful tug from Honorra, the two Kwamiis left the building. Master Fu sighed unhappily. He hadn't wanted to send them on a mission yet it couldn't be avoided.

Evil can take many forms. A terrorist set on obtaining the ultimate power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses. A thief who steals for fun. Never would I have imagined a teenage girl who is starting to remind me of another deviant female by the name of Countess Elizabeth Báthory.

"I hope we won't have to use such drastic measures with Ms. Rossi as the past Miraculous wielders did," he said to himself.

* * *

Marinette was almost ready to leave for school when Honorra popped into her room. "Hi, Marinette!"

"Honorra, what are you doing here? Is Master Fu okay?"

"He is just fine. He sent Wayzz and me out a mission. He's concerned about the trouble Ms. Rossi caused and wanted us to check on your classmates to see if there are any problems still."

"Sounds like a reasonable suggestion to me," Tikki pipped up. She waved her tiny arm and Honorra zipped into the purse. Making sure to zip it almost closed Marinette left for school.

Adrien was already in the locker room as he looked around nervously. He didn't want anyone to see him near Lila's locker. When Wayzz had shown up and explained his mission, the blond was shocked Master Fu wanted to do something so drastic.

Plagg, however, had been overjoyed to find out they could cause a little chaos to that awful girl. No one messed with his wielder's friends and got away with it.

While Wayzz searched the locker for any hints of future attempts to sabotage the heroes, Plagg was having fun by using his powers to age the locker door and walls.

Wayzz rolled his eyes. "You know if you keep doing that she's going to suspect someone went through her locker right?"

Plagg stuck his tongue out at his "brother". "She has it coming. Besides, it's not unusual for lockers to get stuck or rust over time."

Wayzz muttered under his breath as he finished going through the girl's school books. There wasn't anything in here to indicate future trouble, but she might not keep that information in her locker. They would have to be heedful in investigating her.

"Guys, you need to leave now!" Adrien hissed quietly. More students were going to arrive any second to get their first period books from their lockers. The Kwamiis dove out of the locker and into the model's bag, who was already heading to class.

As the classes got underway, Honorra routinely peeked out of the purse to observe the classmates. She muffled an excited squeal when she saw Juleka. She loved her wielder so much!

Peering closer she saw something seemed to be off about Juleka. She knew her wielder was pretty quiet and shy when in class. Right now, it seemed those tendencies seemed amplified.

Looking down at her "cousin", she motioned for Tikki to join her. "Do you think something's off about my wielder? She looks very tense right now and not comfortable at all."

Tikki looked closer at the girl. Juleka was super tense today. Her eyes kept sliding from Ms. Bustier then to Rose. The perky blond didn't seem to notice at all.

"Juleka seems tense around Rose for some reason. They're best friends so she shouldn't be apprehensive at all."

Honorra's tail twitched unhappily. She thought about what she knew about the class and remembering their friendships. I need to observe other best friends she thought to herself.

Max and Kim appeared to be okay with each other's presence. Sabrina and Chloe looked okay. She smiled seeing Chloe taking her own notes for a change.

Her eyes drifted over until she saw Alix. Something seemed to be off about her as well. She knew she was good friends with Mylene. It was strange how she had placed herself as far away as she could on the bench.

Mylene was also sitting on the very edge of the desk. Mylene was a good student and her gaze locked on Ms. Bustier which was normal. What was abnormal is she didn't even glance at Ivan when the teacher's back was turned.

Even the giant seemed to be off slightly. He didn't even spare a glance at Mylene. He just kept his head down the whole time. Didn't humans sneak glances at their loved ones when they could?

"Something seems off with some of the students today. I'm not getting a good vibe from them."

Tikki agreed. "It's been getting rather tense as the days go by. Two weeks ago the class was forgiving each other for past transgressions. I thought everything would go back to normal after that, but it hasn't happened."

I wonder what caused this. Maybe Wayzz knows what's wrong.

Wayzz wasn't in Ms. Bustier's class at the moment. Honorra could keep a watch on that classroom. Right now he found a tiny nook in the science lab where Ms. Mendievel's was teaching her class about the different hormones the human body made.

He scanned the room and checked on the few humans he knew were friends with Adrien and Marinette. While he didn't know these humans very well, he could feel the spiritual energy they gave off.

The boy who liked magic, Jean Dupark appeared to be very depressed. Marinette had once spoken of the boy's unbridled energy and love of pranks. Today, there was none of that and if Wayzz was reading his energies right, Jean seemed to be lacking any positive emotions.

Marc appeared to be very jittery and was having trouble sitting still. Wayzz couldn't be certain if the boy's spiritual energy seemed to be much higher than normal.

A quick check on the rest of Marinette's friends revealed their energies were also either higher or lower than normal. Expanding his sensing abilities, he noticed that the whole class seemed to be an intense mix of negative energy with only a few bits of positive energy.

He then located Lila Rossi. She was sitting up front next to Kagami. It was clear the two girls hated each other. Kagami sat with perfect posture as she listened to her teacher.

Lila, on the other hand, was glaring at her teacher. Under the desk, she clenched her right fist. She wasn't taking any notes. Ms. Mendievel gave the girl a pointed look and Lila finally pulled out her notebook and started taking notes.

"Even if I could not read spiritual energy, there is no doubt Ms. Rossi is feeling incredibly hostile towards others. I'm not sure if she's planning something or bidding her time before she acts. One thing for sure, the students are in danger."

After school, Wayzz and Honorra returned to the shop and informed Fu about their observations. He listened patiently as Honorra explained how off the students behavior was in the heroes class. A small frown appeared on his face when he heard Wayzz describe the negative energy.

"It is as I feared. Lila's actions may have been exposed against one person. Unfortunately, her actions have sewed discord and mistrust throughout the two classrooms."

Lila was an efficient thief and a master manipulator. Previous actions have shown she will retaliate at some point. It seems there is no choice. "Come, we have some _friends_ to wake up."

In his bedroom, Fu opened his safe and took out the chest containing the Friendship Miraculous Circle. The drawers popped open revealing a button, armlet, anklet, and a patch. There was also a key chain, gloves, decorative scarf, and a pair of cuff links.

Fu started chanting the spell as the Miraculouses started to faintly glow. There was a hum in the air. Eight balls of colored light came out of the enchanted accessories and then solidified into Kwamiis, who had their eyes closed.

Slowly, they opened their eyes and blinked. "Great Guardian, have you summoned us to help with restoring the pages on the Friendship Miraculous Circle?" Redda, the red tail hawk kwami asked.

The Guardian didn't respond. He just took a look at each of them, assessing who they were.

Redda had brown feathers on her arms and her tail was made up of two red feathers. Her body was auburn in color. Her eyes were a pale gold and she had a sharp beak for her mouth.

Spinney was mostly dark brown. Going from the back of his head and all the way down his back were small black and white spines. A small tuff of white fur hung on the front of his head. His eyes were light brown and had two tiny white whiskers.

Otto's body was covered in tawny colored fur and his feet ended in webbed paws. He had the cutest little ears on his head and his hand/paws were very tiny.

Yipper was a tad smaller than the average kwami. The top half of his body was orange and the lower half was brown. He had paws on both his hands and feet. His tall pointed ears were both orange and brown.

Belle looked like a typical cow except without the udder. Instead, she had three small pink bumps on her stomach. The rest of her was black and white.

Hopper's legs were bent as if he was ready to jump. They were also longer than any kwami's Fu had seen before. His paw/hands ended with three tiny digits. He was olive green except around his throat which was silver.

Leena looked like a ringtail lemur only her colors were inverted and she had a stub of a tail.

Twiggy had one stubby antler on the left side of her body and a big nose. She was dirty brown and her feet ended in hoofs.

Master Fu cleared his throat. "I do need to update your information, but I have also awakened you for an important mission. I will explain tomorrow. For now, I assume you are all hungry. Let's eat."

* * *

The next day Kagami resumed her self-appointed mission. Keep Lila away from Adrien and Marinette. The girl's reputation had taken a serious hit when Alya revealed what the girl had done to her off campus.

Not many students interacted with her after hearing this. Regrettably, she still had a small following, who believed that Alya had lied because she wasn't Ladybug's "best friend."

How anyone can still be under her spell was one of the mysteries of the universe Kagami thought to herself. Taking her seat in the class, she saw Lila strut into class. For some reason the girl wasn't wearing her usual jewelry instead she wore a simple silver bracelet.

Later in the day, they had a quiz in math. Kagami was making her way through the quiz quickly. She was halfway done when a beam of light blinded her eyes.

She blinked to clear her eyes only to be blinded again by light. This continued for several minutes. Finally, it stopped and Kagami was able to finish her quiz. As she handed it in, noticed Lila was smiling at her. Something was up.

After school, Kagami confronted Lila. The Italian girl was sitting on a bench checking something on her phone. "What are you up to Lila?"

Lila blinked a few times and plastered a fake smile on her face. "What do you mean Kagami? I'm just checking my messages to see what my family wants."

Kagami crossed her arms and spoke firmly. "You can stop pretending you're nice. We both know this isn't the real you."

Lila pressed her right hand to her chest. "I'm shocked you would say something like that to me Kagami. I learned my lesson. I've turned over a new leaf. I'm trying to be a better person honest."

The Japanese girl let out a noise of disgust. "You don't even know what that word means."

Lila got up and shrugged her shoulders. "Believe what you want Kagami. I pray that you eventually see the _light_ and apologize to me." She walked passed the girl and headed home. The sunlight bounced off her bracelet creating a beam of light.

Kagami felt like slapping herself. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Lila had purposely worn a silver bracelet so she could reflect the sunlight into her eyes. Lila had been suitably attacking her in hopes of running her grades.

Kagami angrily stormed into the locker room and wrestled her fencing bag out of her locker. She pulled out her foil and thrust it forward. "That girl needs to be taught a lesson!"

_"You're right Oni-chan. The liar tried to ruin your grades and has been harassing your friends. She needs to be stopped. Get me the heroes Miraculous and you can put an end to this girl's wicked ways." _

"Consider it done Hawkmoth." The purple smoke covered her for a few seconds and when it vanished Kagami's new Akuma form Oni-Chan stood there. She wore a white outfit with an image of a rose that has a thorn sticking out from the top of the flower, red spikes on the shoulders, a red unicorn's horn, and spider like mandibles.

Holding up her new bokken Oni-Chan laughed wickedly. "Time to destroy Lila once and for all!"

Lila was walking towards the youth center to carry out her community surface. Helping take care of little brats until their parents picked them up was not something she enjoyed.

She then smirked as she remembered her little trick against Kagami. Since her family was keeping a close eye on her she had to be careful about what she did as she thought of a way to get back at those who wronged her.

At that moment Oni-Chan landed in front of Lila. Before the girl could even run away the Akuma tapped her bokken on Lila's forehead and huge red horn grew there.

"Lila Rossi, you will pay for all the lies and tricks you have played at school. You crossed a line when you decided to mess with my grades."

"Kagami! I never messed with you or your grades." The horn lit up and grew in size.

"You're lying! I'm tired of it. The world would be a much better place without out you!" Oni-Chan raised her weapon as she got ready to sever Lila's head from her neck.

A yo-yo wrapped around the weapon bending it backwards. "You can't go around beheading people, it's not nice!" Ladybug called out to Oni-Chan, who was trying to free her weapon.

Chat Noir landed behind Lila and scooped up. "Let's get you out of here." He then jumped up and started racing across rooftops.

"NO!" Oni-Chan screamed. With a primal scream, she whipped Ladybug towards her and kicked her hard in the diaphragm. The string loosened releasing her bokken. "Why did you to that?!"

"I can't let you behead anyone, no matter how awful a person is," Ladybug shot back as she regained her balance. She started twirling her yo-yo as she got ready to charge.

Oni-Chan made a dismiss sound. She didn't have time for this. Her horn started to glow as Ladybug charged her. There was a flash of light and the superheroine crashed into her partner.

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here and where is Oni-Chan?"

"I don't know! One minute I'm giving Lila to Officer Roger. Next, I'm here."

"Come on, we have to find Oni-Chan now!"

Lila was running from Oni-Chan. She had just managed to get away from her after she appeared in the cop car and tried to drive away with her. She needed to find someplace to hide.

Seeing Marinette's family bakery she dove in. There was no way the goody goody's parents would throw her out with an Akuma attacking.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" a sharp voice asked. Looking behind her she saw Sabine, who had a very crossed expression on her face.

"Please, I need to hide. The Akuma is after me and I don't know why." Her horn glowed red and got bigger.

"Do you know who the Akuma is and why they're after you?" Sabine demanded.

"No, I don't know who the Akuma is or why they're after me!" Lila shouted angrily not even noticing how her horn grew bigger. Why was this woman questioning her anyways?

Sabine's phone rang and she saw a strange text appear on her phone. In a flash of red light, the young woman was gone and Oni-Chan appeared in her place.

Seeing where she was Oni-Chan's anger grew two folds. "How dare you take refuge in MARINETTE'S HOME? I'm going to make your death painful!" she screeched.

Lila took off running again and made it to a salon nearby. A customer was coming out when she got a text. She vanished and Oni-Chan reappeared. "Stop running! As long as you have that horn I can always find you and by the size of it, your lies are growing bigger by the minute."

"I'm sorry I lied! I'll tell the truth if you dispose of Ladybug right now." The horn grew at the fake apology but didn't with the second half of the sentence. Lila was serious.

Oni-Chan stood there waiting for Hawkmoth to tell her what to do.

"Pretend to agree. I want the Miraculouses, not their lives," Hawkmoth instructed her.

"I'll do as you say. I expect you to keep your word," Oni-Chan susurrated.

Lila nodded. In the back of her mind, she said told herself promises to Akumas didn't have to be kept.

There was a loud and angry hiss coming from behind Lila. She turned around and yelled in horror. A huge shadow of an enormous cat was spitting at her.

Lila screamed in terror and ran in the opposite direction. She collided with Oni-Cha, who dropped her bokken as she was tugged to the ground.

A split second later both girls were tied back to back with a heavy and durable firehouse. "I'm sorry I had to tie you to each other," Ladybug told the two girls as she broke the bokken over her knee.

The akuma flew free and was soon purified. As soon as Oni-Chan reverted to Kagami, the hose slack lessoned and both girls could escape. The ladybugs rushed across the city repairing the damage.

"Nice work My Lady. It was a good idea to use Feline Bluff to get the girls tangled up for capture."

"You scared me half to death on purpose! What's wrong with you?"

Ladybug gave Lila a flat stare. "Considering we just saved you from being beheaded, I think you should be grateful all you got was a little scare. Are you alright?"

Kagami assured she was and that she was heading home. She gave Lila a look and marched home. The heroes left a second later as their Miraculous started to beep.

* * *

Back at the shop, the newly awaken Kwamiis were enjoying a well-deserved meal. Each was sitting in a different spot in the kitchen trying their best to not get crumbs everywhere.

Master Fu, along with Honorra and Wayzz, had gone out to get more groceries. He gave the Kwamiis strict instructions to stay in the kitchen and not leave the residence.

Redda was eating near the computer. She tore another piece of chicken off the small leg she had been served. She stuffed it into her beak enjoying the flavor on her tongue. "This is really good chicken," she remarked to her "siblings".

"Indeed, these noodles are delicious," Twiggy replied as she sucked one into her mouth. She wiggled in delight. "I can't believe how much food flavors have progressed."

"I can't wait to explore this modern world. This is going to be so much fun!" Otto remarked playfully. He looked out the window fervently. He was ready to learn new ways to have fun.

Redda was about to remind him they needed to wait for the Guardian when she felt a tugging sensation. Tilting her head, she felt the tugging sensation coming from outside.

Floating over to the window, she brushed past Otto to look outside. Her eyes were as good as a real hawk. She could see a mile away. Past all the buildings she saw Kagami walking home.

The tugging sensation is coming from her! Something is troubling her and she needs my help. I wonder why she needs my help.

"Redda, get away from the window. You might be seen," Belle scolded her slightly.

Turning away from the window Redda wondered how she was going to get out and find Kagami. She knew it would be risky and the Guardian would probably forbid it, but she needed to do this. It was her purpose.

When the Guardian returned, Redda told him what had happened. She admitted she wanted to go see the girl and figure out what she needed help in. She waited for the Guardian's response to see what he would do.

"I allowed the Humanities Circle to help wielders face their fatal flaws so they could improve. As you know, I also awoke the eight of you to help with the situation at the school.

I can't let you go to the girl's home. It is too risky and she doesn't know about Kwamiis. There is another way you can help. If either Ladybug or Chat Noir took you to the school, you could help the girl subtly without revealing yourself."

* * *

The next day at school, Kagami was trying her best to ignore the whispers she heard from the other students in the class.

Word had gotten out that Oni-Chan had been attempting to behead someone and that made people extremely wary of her. If she had gotten akumatized to the point she had murder on her mind, did she have that on her mind as herself?

Ignore the words and let their comments fall off you like raindrops. What they think about you doesn't matter. You are stronger than this. Kagami repeated this mantra in her mind over and over again.

Ms. Mendievel was reviewing what they had been learning in math for the past week. She was watching everyone making sure they were paying attention. Her eyes flickered on the Japanese girl and she bowed her head.

"Ms. Rossi, can you answer the question on the board please?" Lila got up and daintily took the marker from Ms. Mendievel and solved the problem.

Walking back to her seat, Lila mouthed a very hurtful word at Kagami. She was daring the girl to challenge her and lose her cool, proving she was a violent person.

Why is she doing this to me? She knows I'll tell the teacher about this and she'll be punished. What is she trying to gain from this?

When it was time to go to lunch, Kagami asked to talk to Ms. Mendievel about something.

"It will have to wait until after school. I have to meet with someone over the lunch break and I can't be late."

Accepting this, Kagami headed for her locker with Lila trailing behind her. Once they reached the locker room the fencer turned around and confronted the liar. "What do you want Lila?"

"Nothing, I want nothing from you. Go ahead and tell the teacher what I mouthed," the girl said as she tossed her hair over her shoulders.

"Just remember, you're the one who got angry enough to want to behead me. If you tattle on me, well I guess then everyone will figure you're extremely vindictive."

"You'll still get in trouble for your bullying."

"Perhaps, but you'll ruin your chances of having any real friends for life if you snitch. Think about it." Lila sashayed away feeling very confident.

Only when she was gone, did Kagami let a single tear fall down her face. She had a few friends here at school, but that was it. The rest of the time it was just her and her mother.

Knowing she had been backed into a corner the girl opened her locker to get her jacket only to see a note hanging on the back via a magnet. Puzzled she removed the note and read it.

"I saw you struggling because of someone else's dishonesty. Their cruel words and actions shouldn't have you doubting your own honesty.

Honesty with yourself means you know your happy with who you are and know what your goals are. Don't hide your emotions behind a mask. Be honest about them and tell others when you need their help when you can't hold them in any longer.

People can't read your mind and figure out what you're trying to say or what you need. Unless you communicate your honest intentions, others will be hurt and you'll be alone.

If you're honest with yourselves others will see this and know the truth. Don't let others define how you should be honest. Stay strong and everything will be fine.

I believe in you Kagami. I hope this note helps. Your new friend, R."

Attached to the note were a few small brown feathers. She was puzzled by their appearance and the note.

Still, it appeared someone was looking out for her. Smiling, she slid the note into her pocket and headed for home unaware of the kwami looking at her proudly.

* * *

In the city of Cauca, which was in the country of Columbia, Peace Keeper found herself standing next to Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the Special Representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

Members of the Security Council from Peru and the United Kingdom were on site to assist with the mission.

The overarching purpose of the visit was to demonstrate the Council's support for the implementation of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC-EP) and the government of Colombia, which put an end to over five decades of violent and bloody civil war.

It was the Council's second visiting mission to Colombia, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to the peace process. The UN Security Council members were eager to deepen their understanding of the current stage of the agreement's implementation and get a better grasp of the political dynamics in Colombia, which continue to be marked by polarization.

Peace Keeper was posing as Paz Alfaro, a new aide for Mr. Massieu to assist him during the back to back meetings happening today. She would be staying behind for about two weeks to see how the country implemented any actions decided at the meetings.

Currently, the team was meeting with President Iván Duque Márquez and top officials of his government, including Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo and Emilio Archila, Presidential Counsellor for Stabilization and Consolidation.

The delegation sought to deepen its understanding of the government's approach to consolidating the peace process and were discussing working together to take stock both of progress and remaining challenges in implementing the agreement.

"Cooperation is key if we are to successfully implement the agreement. We'll need to look at the data from the different departments, (the word is used here to describe the different states in the country), and see which have had the most success so far," Mr. Massieu explained to President Duque.

"Indeed. We have made several strides in creating a lasting peace with FARC-EP. Our main difficulty is the continuous violations of human rights. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace is continuing investigating, clarify, and prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and grave breaches according to international humanitarian law.

More progress must be made before we can make restitution for the victims that suffered due to the conflict."

Ms. Alfaro paid close attention to body langue and the tone of voice of the meeting's participants. President Duque and his ministers were being very unpretentious. The leader of Columbia was devoted to creating lasting peace.

Her own party was delighted by the assurance by the government to the ongoing process. It was also significant because President Durque's party had been against the peace accords during the previous president's tenure.

She glanced down at the schedule for the rest of the day. The whole day was back to back meetings. After this one, there was a meeting scheduled with a technical meeting with the heads of government entities involved in the enactment of the peace accords.

After that, there would be a meeting with the leadership of the FARC-EP party. Later they would meet with twenty members of the House of Representatives to discuss the different perspectives considering the history of the country to get to the root of the conflict that raged through the country.

Other meetings that day comprised of conferencing with civil society organizations, representatives of human rights, peace, women's rights, child protection, religious and ethnic groups highlighting disquiets related to the implementation of the peace accord in the context of their respective organizations' focus.

That was all before lunch! The rest of the day would be even more meetings with various groups to come to agreements on how the peace mission here should proceed.

Tomorrow is going to be just as busy, Paz thought to herself. Meetings with civil leaders in the different departments. Interviewing soldiers from the conflict to see how they were adjusting to normal life. Lastly, talking to normal citizens to survey their thoughts on the peace process.

While happy these meetings were taking place and that they would lead to improvements in the people of Columbia, it was still dreary work for a woman who was accustomed to exercising a lot.

I hope things are okay in Paris. Hopefully, I won't die of boredom before I can return there.

* * *

Back in Paris, Lila was cleaning the machines in the basement gym in her home. Because of her punishment for hypnotizing Alya, she was stuck doing all the chores in the house.

"This is not fair! I didn't do anything serious to Alya! Todd should be the one cleaning the equipment, not me," she hissed to herself.

There was a burning hatred in her heart towards her family. How dare they punish her! Not to mention force her to go to therapy and watching her every move. It was unfair!

This is all Marinette's fault! She should have bowed down to me and given up Adrien! If she had played nicely, then I wouldn't have had to trick Alya to learn what was going on in Ms. Bustier's class.

There has to be a way to regain my dominance at school and get my family to back off. Also, I need to get my revenge on Ladybug and Chat Noir. No one makes a fool of me and gets away with it!

There has to be a way to create a situation where all three of them are discredited and abandoned by their friends and the public. I just need to figure out how.

An evil smile appeared on the girl's face. There was one thing that would be useful to her and she knew just how to attract it. Hawkmoth and his akumas would be key to her success.


	2. Forgiveness

It was the day after the UN Security Council members had left, leaving behind their secret agent to keep an eye on things for two weeks. Paz Alfaro was already up and assisting Mr. Massieu with his work.

Currently, the Special Representative was reviewing the agreements that were made during the back to back meetings they had a few days ago. "We need to step up efforts in formalizing land arrangements for the 24 territorial areas intended for training and reintegration. If we don't renew the legal status before it lapses we could be in trouble."

Paz nodded her head in agreement. "The leaders of the FARC party are cooperating to form a lasting peace, but we both know there are rogue members who are still intent on creating conflict.

We need to fix the situation with the current security issues. We can't have any more FARC members killed during these proceedings."

Mr. Massieu inclined his head in agreement. Deaths resulting from confrontations were extremely deferential towards the continued cooperation from the FARC party.

He handed his aide a report on what actions should be taken during the local elections in former conflict zones. President Duque was determined to prevent illegal arms groups from interfering by targeting voters.

A strong presence had to be made to protect social leaders, human rights activist, and other groups dedicated to the peace agreement. "Perhaps, we should suggest a mixed security detail. Some in uniform and others in plainclothes in the voters line to assist in keeping voters safe."

"I'll make the suggestion, but I don't think that is what the government wants. Any sign of deception could undo the progress we've made."

Paz understood where Mr. Massieu was coming from. The people of Columbia associated drug trade with a deception of any kind. Thanks to the efforts of the president and his staff, cocaine production was down by twelve percent.

The two went over other reports figuring out how they could assist the country with implanting new measures. One thing they could do was support the newly created Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a judicial mechanism created under the peace agreement that will deal with cases involving serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian.

Since the UN was big on protecting human rights, supporting the new judicial department would help Columbia end the human rights violations for good.

Another report was about financial constraints. The UN had to distribute funds carefully for every ongoing mission. The budget Mr. Massieu received limited what he was able to do with assisting the country secure financial stability.

Paz read a few of the statements made by the other members in the Security Council. Many of them praised the positive progress Colombia was showing and how the country's actions were a perfect example to the world of how countries caught up in civil wars could start their peace process.

Most of the statements emphasized continuing protection to local leaders and human right activists. Columbia needed to keep a constant vigil on the drug trade and protect areas that former FARC members inhabited from violence.

Before Paz could offer some suggestions she was handed another report to review for her boss. "Look this over please and highlight the main issues that can be addressed by the UN according to the peace agreement."

Taking the report, the aide went to her temporary desk and started reviewing promises the government made that hadn't been addressed yet.

The process of reintegrating the former FARC soldiers was going smoothly. Yet the linchpin that would prevent the FARC from withdrawing from the agreements didn't even have established plan yet.

The Colombian government's plan for rural development lacked key details, funding, or progress on issues like land registration. Land registration was important to decide what crops could be grown.

Several armed groups had ties into the cocoa plantations. They used the profits from selling the coco to purchase illegal firearms. Arms that would likely end up in drug cartels to kill anyone who got in their way.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which the UN greatly supported, was seen as flawed by many citizens. Criticism ranged from incompetent judges to a lack of real commitment to getting justice for victims by having the people responsible for the death do a great deal of jail time.

What Columbia needs right now is to make good on their promises to create a solid plan for developing the rural areas. I wonder why it's taking so long to figure something out.

Maybe the Special Representative and his team can come up with a couple of ideas and suggest them to President Duque and his senior staff. It would be a starting point and they could build off of that.

Finishing highlighting the main points, the aide checked her watch. It wasn't a good time to call her new father. Sighing, the young aide got back to work trying to find something she could use her talents for.

* * *

In Paris, something that hadn't happened in a long time was taking place. When Marinette and Adrien were called to come over to Master Fu's they had no idea he would suggest what he did.

He invited the two over so their Kwamiis could have a play date with their "cousins." Never in a thousand years would they have thought that was a reason to come over.

Right now, it was girls verse boys as they played sock war. Tikki, Honorra, and Redda were dodging balled up socks thrown by Wayzz, Plagg, and Spinney. The boys had excellent aim while the girls were experts at dodging.

"Keep it up, boys! They can't dodge forever!" Otto called out gleefully as he landed a hit on Twiggy who was down for the count. "Got you, Twiggy."

"Leena avenge me."

"No problem, Twiggy!" Leena bounced around using her lemur like legs to avoid the sock balls. With Otto in her sights, she tossed her balled-up socks straight at his head.

Otto cowered fearfully, only for Hopper to jump up and catch the sock ball. "It appears you are out Leena. Look on the bright side, you lasted longer than Twiggy."

Hopper was then hit on his backside by Belle's sock ball. "You need to watch your back, Hopper. Never know when a sneak attack will happen."

She sensed Yipper coming up from behind so she dodged out of the way, grabbed the sock ball and threw it back at Yipper, who went down wailing. "See what I mean?"

A few minutes later the girls won. They were cheering and hugging one another, while the boys sulked unhappy to lose to the girls.

"Yeah, you girls won this round, but we'll win the next game!" Plagg insisted.

"What game would you like to play next?" Wayzz asked the girls. They had won so they got to choose the next game.

The girls whispered among themselves deciding what game they thought they could win. Belle floated forward after another minute of whispering. "We want to play Chinese checkers with pairs."

"I think that's an excellent idea. Marinette, the board is in my closet in the bedroom. Please go fetch it"

Marinette nodded and retrieved the board. The Kwamiis had already split into pairs. Tikki and Honorra, Redda and Belle, and lastly, Twiggy and Leena were the teams for the girls.

Plagg and Wayzz, Spinney and Otto, and lastly, Yipper and Hopper, were the boys' team. Each one of the teams looked ready to trounce the others. The turns alternated between girls than boys and back again.

The humans watched the game. Master Fu had a gentle smile on his face. Marinette and Adrien still looked a bit puzzled. Seeing this he asked them to come into his kitchen so they could start preparing a snack for the little gods.

As soon as they were alone in the kitchen Master Fu turned towards the teenagers. "I can tell you don't understand why I asked you to come here for a kwami playdate. I sometimes forget you don't know the whole story about the Order of the Guardians."

"That's the group who watched over the Miraculouses and trained people to use them," Marinette commented.

The old man nodded as he pulled out some dressing from the fridge. "Indeed. The Order was concerned with the protection of the Miraculous and learning the full extent of a kwami's power, many often forgot that the little gods had feelings and lives outside their duties."

Adrien and Marinette felt embarrassed they hadn't stopped to think if Tikki or Plagg had any interests or if they wanted to do other things with their time instead of always being by their side.

"My mentor Master Zhun taught me the importance of taking care of all aspects of life with Kwamiis as friends. That includes letting them have time to play with one another. Everyone deserves to have fun once and awhile."

Both of the teenagers smiled at one another, remembering how hard it had been for Adrien to become friends with Marinette and the rest of the class. How difficult for both of them to have fun with their superhero duties interfering with everyday life.

When they finished preparing the snack they went back out to the main room. The boys had won Chinese checkers and now the tiny little gods were playing Go Fish.

Maybe Kwamii playdates weren't such a bad thing after all.

* * *

At Fox Burrows, Lila was in her room with the door locked and laying on her bed. She had finally finished all the chores for today. She was supposed to be doing her homework. Instead, she was doing research.

The topic of research? Finding everything she could about her enemies. Since a lot of the students were now suspicious and angry at her, she needed to be very careful about how she proceeded.

The list on her enemies consisted of her female rivals, her former friend, and her teacher, and lastly, she had written down the names of her parents. She was angry at them. Parents were supposed to stand by their children, not punish them.

"Mom and dad, especially mom, will pay for punishing me. I can't believe they followed through with part of their ultimatum. Two more strikes and I'm off to military school and I lose my inheritance."

Lila's eyes flashed with indignation and she snarled. "I'll show everyone no one messes with Lila Itala Armida Rossi." She reached for the book she had placed near the head of the bed.

It was a book chronicling the family history going back to the founding of the business empire for each branch of the family tree.

Recorded in the pages were bloodlines, important moments in the family history. She was more interested in the short bios about each member of the family.

These chronicles were stored in the library and could be accessed by everyone. Only the master copy, which belonged to the matriarch and patriarch, was stored in a hidden compartment somewhere in the house. The master copy held the records of all branches of the family and top secret information about each member.

I wish I knew where the master copy was. My research would go a lot faster if I could have everything I needed in one place Lila thought to herself. Instead, she had to settle with what she had.

The first biography she read was her mother's. Oliva nee Articavolpe Rossi was an accomplished member of the Articavolpe bloodline. Her accomplishments included two master degrees, one for Business and the other, Mass Communications. Youngest director of the advertising department.

She also had earned the companies MVP award seven times, which was given out at the end of every business quarter. Not to mention she had mentored several rookies who had entered her department.

"Ugh, I'm tired of accomplishments. Where is the personal history in this book?" She scanned the rest of the page looking for anything she could use as leverage.

Then she saw it. There was a small mention of her mother spending a month in a hospital mental ward. Lila could use that to her advantage.

Grabbing a different chronicle Lila quickly found her dad's biography. She ignored all her father's accomplishments and ran her finger across the page as she looked into her father's personal life.

There! A small mention of her dad being arrested. The biography didn't mention what he was arrested for, but that didn't matter. Her father's past was going to haunt him.

Setting aside the chronicles, she opened her laptop and started searching websites that had links to public records. Everyone had a few skeletons in their closets and the Italian girl was going to expose them to the world.

Over the next half hour, Lila used one hand to scroll through the information on the website and the other was used to write notes in a brand new notebook. It was easy to find public records containing information related to birth/death certificates, marriage licenses, and property records.

Certain records weren't available to her because she was too young to access them and she would have to appear physically at the courthouse to obtain any records about trial and arrest records.

Even with this hindrance, she was able to dig up some information about a few of her targets. Her first target was her teacher, Ms. Mendievel. That woman had it out for her since the first time they met.

"That nasty cow of a woman will learn you don't hinder my actions. Now let's see what shakes loose when I look at her family history. Hmm, looks like she comes from a long line of mean spirited ladies. Seems like the men keep divorcing them whenever they got too feisty."

Taking a second look at the page she found something she could use against the woman, should her teacher meddle with her scheme to ruin the lives of Paris's heroic duo along with the freak Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

* * *

Two days later, Marinette was in her room trying to figure out a design for the sweater she wanted to give her father for his birthday. It was her traditional gift, but this year she was stuck.

Marinette let out a sound of frustration. It was no use, she couldn't figure out a design for this year. "I'm a bad daughter Tikki. Without a design, I can't make dad his sweater. I have nothing to give him as a gift this year."

"Don't be sad Marinette. I'm sure you could pick up a gift for your father. We could go out to the store right now and be back before dinner," Tikki suggested kindly.

Marinette shook her head. "I want to give my dad something from my heart. He does so much for me and I want to show my appreciation to him in the same manner he does."

A moment later, her cellphone started ringing. Picking it up, she was surprised to see it was Master Fu calling. He rarely called because of the danger it posed.

She answered the call. "Master Fu, is something wrong? You don't usually call me unless it's an emergency."

"It is an emergency. I went out for a walk this morning with the Kwamiis to show them around. When I came home we all realized that Leena, the Kwami of Forgiveness, was gone!"

Both Marinette and Tikki gasped. A missing kwami was indeed an emergency. "Did anyone see her leave?"

"No. Wayzz and Honorra were explaining the modern world to the Friendship Circle. They were all peeking out of my bag observing the world.

Redda warned me her circle tends to wander off if they feel a strong pull to fix a problem when it comes to friendship. I should have listened to her."

"Don't worry Master, Tikki and I are on the case. If you can get a hold of Adrien, I know he'll help out." Ending the call she gestured for Tikki to get in. She headed downstairs and told her mom she was heading out to pick up a gift and would be back by dinner time.

"I should have asked Master Fu where he went on his walk. It would be easier to find Leena then."

Her phone buzzed and a map appeared on the screen. A blue highlighted route showed the path that Master Fu took that morning. At least now she knew where to look for the missing kwami.

* * *

At the moment, Leena found herself inside a small traditional house. It was filled with items that were new to her but appeared older than the technology found in Master Fu's home.

There was a big box with a screen on it and top of it was a blocky object with a small keyboard. In the kitchen, she saw an oven that looked very different than the one she was familiar with.

The pictures in the frames were all black and white. The clock appeared to be dated. Even the wallpaper was old. Still, she found them fascinating to look at.

She spied a series of trophies on different shelves. Floating closer, she couldn't help, but admire them. Each one had been polished and there was no dust on them at all.

Hiding behind the trophies she observed the owner of the house. He was an old man with no hair on the top of his head, just on the sides. The man was of middle built with strong looking arms and wore black glasses to help his hazel eyes see.

He wore a blue striped shirt, blue shorts, and sandals. He was muttering about the good old days when people did things the right way. How everyone was too dazzled by the doodads of the modern world.

She spied a trio of white mice next to a turned over photo. Highly inquisitive, she went over and partially lifted the photo to see why it was turned over. What she saw surprised her.

She recognized the people in the photo. She had recently seen a colored picture of them during the playdate. During snack time, the two young wielders had shared photos with them, including members of their families.

Since he's not of Asian descent, this man must be the father of Marinette's dad, making him her grandfather. But why does she not have a photo of him and he doesn't have a photo of her?

Hearing the old man's steps coming nearer she quickly dove into the trio of mice and tried to look as mouse like as possible.

"At least I have you, my old friends. I'm glad mice don't change. Huh, you're new," the old man said as he picked up the quivering kwami. He eyed her trying to figure out what type of mouse she was.

"You don't look like a traditional mouse. Even mice don't like right anymore." His yelling made Leena quiver even more.

The man realized he was scaring the little "mouse". "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. You must be an exotic mouse that got stuck in the delivery truck and clung to the flour bag."

He stroked Leena, calming her down. The man was extremely gentle with her as he put her down next to the other mice. "My name is Rolland Dupain. You can stay with me as long as you don't eat my bread unless I give you a piece."

Leena let out a squeak that seemed to satisfy Roland. He went back to baking muttering to himself about if his son didn't use rice flour, he would be making his special bread for his birthday today.

So, he's the one I sensed who was having difficulty forgiving. Deep in his heart, he knew he was wrong to cut off contact with his family over a bread recipe, but he's too stubborn to ask for forgiveness. There must be a way I can help him Leena thought to herself.

She then saw an old fashion phone near the entrance. An idea formed in her head. She whispered to the mice to keep Rolland's attention away from her.

While Kwamiis didn't really speak animal tongues, they could get a simple idea across to them.

Very carefully, she made her way to the phone first on foot. Glancing, behind her, she saw her mice friend keeping Rolland occupied. Levitating in the air, she took the phone off the cradle and punched in Marinette's phone number. Luckily it went to voice mail.

"Marinette, I'm at your grandfather's house and I need your help to teach him the lesson of forgiveness. Come quickly." Leena returned the phone to the cradle be rejoining the mice as she watched Rolland bake bread.

* * *

Five minutes later, Marinette was running up to the gate. She started breathing heavy. "I can't believe this! How in the world did Leena end up in my grandpa's house?" she muttered softly.

The gate was imposing and she was unsure about what to do. "How am I going to get in? I've never met my paternal grandpa before."

Tikki's antennas stood straight up. "Never? That's shocking to hear. I thought he and your grandma would have visited you and your parents together."

Marinette shrugged her shoulders. She didn't get it either. Her parents and grandma never wanted to talk about it. Hesitantly, she rang the bell attached to the gate.

"Yes? Who's there! If your trying to sell something go take a hike!" Rolland's loud and angry voice shouted out through a homemade speaker.

"Uh oh I'm not selling anything I swear," Marinette frantically babbled at the speaker. "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I'm your granddaughter. I would like to speak to you in person if that's okay."

For a few minutes there was nothing, but silence. Then the gate swung open and walked timidly towards the door. Drawing on her inner strength she pushed the door open and walked inside.

Rolland was waiting for her in the kitchen. His arms crossed as he stared down at her. She didn't look anything like Tom, which was good. He didn't need to be reminded of his son's "betrayal."

"Did my son send you in hopes I would come to see him on his birthday? That's not how it's done! You send an invitation or come over personally to ask them to attend!"

The bluenette held her hands up, signaling the old man to calm down. "My dad doesn't even know I'm here. I got a call from your number to come over here. I thought you wanted to meet me."

"I didn't call you! Your fancy phone with all those unnecessary features must be broken. Phones should only be used to call people over long distances. That's what it was like in my day!"

"Isn't this your phone number?" Roland squinted as his number popped up on the screen. Indeed it was his phone number.

"Now people are messing with the phone lines? In my day if something broke we fix it right the first time," Rolland snapped at her. "What is the world coming to?"

He grunted and there was a hard look in his eyes. "It was nice to meet you Marinette. I'm sure your very busy getting ready for my nontraditional son's birthday so hurry along your way."

Rolland pushed her out of the house ignoring the girl's stammers and pleads. Once she was gone he returned to the kitchen to make more bread kneading the dough angrily and continued to rant about no one doing things right these days.

Leena bit her lip trying to figure out what to do next when she saw an akuma flying through the window and landing on a container of yeast Rolland had been holding. Frightened, she hid out of sight with the other mice as Rolland was transformed into an Akuma.

When the smoke disappeared, Rolland was gone and in his place was Bakerix. He had the appearance of a Gaul made out of bread. "I will destroy this entire modern world restoring it to the right way things are supposed to be done!"

He busted out of his house and took, nearly burying his granddaughter under the rubble. His shouts could be heard across the city.

"Marinette! Are you okay?" Leena asked frantically.

"I'm fine Leena, but now I have to go stop my grandpa before he destroys the city. Go back to Master Fu's where it's safe! Tikki, Spots On!" Ladybug took off leaving Leena alone.

I can't go back to Master Fu's, not yet! I'm partially responsible for this mess and I'm going to help fix! Taking a look around the ruined house she started to put together something that would help Ladybug restore Rolland to normal.

* * *

Ladybug was holding her own as she fought Bakerix. She had saved an electric powered bus and was avoiding being pounded as the Akuma yelled at her that it was the police who took care of the people, not superheroes.

"Using magic is not the right way to help people! In my day people knew the lesson of hard work!"

"Believe me, this is hard work!" Ladybug commented as she dodged his fists. She tossed her yo-yo around the Akuma's arm and pulled hard causing Bakerix to stumble forward.

"This isn't how you treat your elders! In my day, we showed respect for them!" With his other hand, he drank from his flask growing bigger. With ease, he grasped the yo-yo string and started spinning Ladybug in the air.

The superheroine screamed as she was twirled all around. She gripped tightly to the string too afraid to let go. Suddenly she wasn't twirling in the air. She was heading straight into street face first!

Before she hit the street, she was grabbed out of the air, letting go of the string. She heard her yo-yo rebound off the ground and strike the back of the Akuma's head.

"Are you okay My Lady?" Chat Noir asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine Chat Noir. Thanks for the assist."

"You're welcome My Lady after all a hero should _rise_ to any occasion."

Bakerix angrily discard the magical yo-yo and snarled at Chat Noir. "That is not the right way to tell a joke! Jokes are supposed to be funny. Puns are not funny."

Chat Noir shrugged his shoulders. Extending his stick, he told Ladybug to retrieve her yo-yo. "So Bakerix, are you ready to be _toasted_?"

Bakerix took a drink out of his flask, getting super strong. He charged Chat Noir and soon the Akuma and hero were battling it out.

Chat Noir blocked Bakerix's fists from hitting him and got a couple of swings in himself. The problem was that bread was used to be ripped apart so Bakerix wasn't actually feeling any of the hits.

Bakerix smashed the stick away and then picked Chat Noir up and threw him in the direction of the train station. He went after the hero, intent on defeating him and destroying the unnatural train.

* * *

Back with Leena, she had been tracking down Bakerix. With the help of her new mice friends, she was carrying a miniature peel, (that's what the tool used to take pizza and bread out of the oven is called). Attached to one side of the flat end was a photo. On the other side were two pieces of bread held in place with sticky dough.

"I hope I find him soon! I don't know if Chat Noir and Ladybug can stop him by themselves."

Following the tugging sensation, she finally found Bakerix and the heroes. They were at the train station. Ladybug was holding the Akuma in place while Chat Noir got people off the train.

"Please stop this! You don't want to hurt anyone!"

"People must be taught a lesson about doing things the right way!" Bakerix replied. Picking up the engine he flung it into a wall. Luckily, everyone was off the train.

He picked up another train car and threw it at the heroes forcing them to jump out the way. Bakerix then grabbed another train car and threw it even harder than the last one, this time destroying the roof of the building.

He's making it impossible for Ladybug to call on her Lucky Charm. If he would just stand still for a few minutes, I know she could summon one. I need to act fast.

Waiting for the perfect opening, she moved in while the Akuma was picking up another train car. She landed on the back of the Akuma's neck, who didn't feel her at all.

She pressed one paw/hand on the bread like skin. She gathered her energy and then let it flow into Bakerix. "Fresh Start," she whispered to herself.

Hawkmoth was watching the attack unfold through Bakerix's eyes. This Akuma was one of the strongest he had ever made. The anger of an old man was truly potent.

"Bakerix, keep wearing them down. Once they're exhausted you can take their Miraculouses!"

Abruptly, he lost the connection with his Akuma. "What is going on? Why can't I sense the Akuma?"

Back in the train station, Bakerix wasn't moving. Instead of anger, he was feeling a sense of remorse. A little voice whispered in his mind, that it was time to let go of his anger.

A picture appeared right before his eyes. He felt like he had seen the people in it before. He looked at the large man and the feeling grew stronger. Was this the cause of the strange feelings?

Again a little voice told him to look in his hand. Lying in the palm was two pieces of bread. Very carefully, he picked up the two pieces of bread and ate them.

They both tasted delicious in their own way. One was traditional and the other has little special taste in it. "Now this is some good bread! I wonder who made this."

While Bakerix ate the bread Ladybug had summoned her Lucky Charm. It turned out to be a bottle of stewed tomatoes. Looking around, she got an idea.

Bakerix was looking around for who had given him the bread when he saw the heroes making a pizza sandwich. "That's not right! Pizza is not right and neither is using bread to make a sandwich out of it!"

Bakerix chased them outside the station and into the street. Near the entrance of the station was a large air vent to circulate the excessive air the station released. Chat Noir used Cataclysm to destroy the vent cover.

Predictably, Bakerix was lifted in the air by the high powered vent fan and he dropped the yeast container. Ladybug caught and smashed it. About a minute later Rolland was back to normal and shouting he needed to get home to see if his granddaughter was alright.

Chat Noir took him to his home giving Ladybug enough time to get there and detransform. When Rolland saw her okay, Chat Noir took his leave.

Leena, who had still been clinging to the back of Rolland's neck was very pleased to hear the old man asking for Marinette's forgiveness for being so rude to her. Additionally, she was pleased to know he was going to his son's birthday and ask for forgiveness because of the rift he caused.

She was very happy with what she had accomplished but knew she was going to be in serious trouble with the Great Guardian when she got back for running off.

* * *

In Columbia, Mr. Massieu and Ms. Alfaro had arrived at the office of local human rights activists. These activists worked to ensure legal rights for everyone and prevent any illegal court proceedings.

The Special Representative was here to speak with the leaders to discuss their progress in achieving their goal. Mr. Massieu also wanted to offer help in protecting the activists from being murdered.

Ms. Alfaro was taking notes of the meeting as the Special Representative and one of the activists talked.

"The continued attacks on us and other activists have grown more brazen since the visit of the UN. The special protection from the government has not deterred attacks.

We even suspect some of the officials in the protection program are actually conveying personal information to the groups that target us. We need more protection to prevent attacks on us or our families."

The Special Representative was quiet as he thought about the problem. "The paramilitary groups seem determined to prevent efforts to create a fair world. They prefer the corrupt system which doesn't prosecute the aggressors and instead punish to victims.

The UN offices are better secured and we don't receive threats as often as activists groups do. It might be better if we can establish some offices for local activists groups on UN grounds to keep you safe."

Ms. Alfaro spoke up just then. "Pardon me, but is such action possible? I'm unsure if the UN would allow this to happen. While the Human Rights Committee would support the idea the Security Council would point out that this would make us vulnerable to attack."

Mr. Massieu went to reassure her when bullets came flying through the building at high speed. The human activist leader and Mr. Massieu dove for the floor as Ms. Alfaro screamed as a bullet tore through her right arm.

As the bullets kept coming Ms. Alfaro dropped towards the ground. Her throat glowed blue as she let out a Raging Call before activating Shell Guard to protect everyone in the building.

Raging Call destroyed the guns and sent the shooters flying in all directions resulting in injuries. When the police and ambulance arrived on the scene the perpetrators were lying on the ground with several abrasions and a few broken bones.

Inside the office, paramedics were attending to Ms. Alfaro and her gunshot wound. The area was bleeding and she was whimpering as the pain increased. The paramedics wasted no time as they loaded her up and hurried to the hospital hoping the injury was not too bad.


	3. Sensitivity

It was a typical day at school and everyone was going about their business as they got ready for their afternoon classes. Rose was getting her science book for her afternoon classes. She was having a bit of trouble getting her locker to open.

She tugged on the handle harder. "I need you to open up right now. Oh, Ms. Mendievel will be very unhappy if I'm late. Why won't you open up ah!"

The door burst open and an explosion of purple glitter covered Rose from her face down to her knees. She tried to brush it off only for it to stick harder to her clothes and skin.

Any other time Rose would be delighted to be covered in glitter. Right now was the worst time. Ms. Mendievel would send her to the headmaster and give her detention if she showed up in class like this, but she had no choice.

Ms. Mendievel was taking roll call when Rose slipped inside. Instantly, she was on the girl's case. "Ms. Lavillant, what is the meaning of this? How dare you enter my classroom looking like this! I can't have you dragging glitter all over the place. Go and change at once!"

"I…can't…change clothes, Madame. I don't have any spares at school," Rose whimpered. "The glitter wasn't my fault. I was opening my locker door…"

The science and math teachers put her hands on her hips and gave the student an unimpressed look. "I don't care whose fault it is, you're not staying in my classroom looking like this. Go to the headmaster's office right now. You have detention after school today."

Rose slunk out of the classroom very chagrined and embarrassed. She looked up at Juleka for support. Only Juleka was ignoring her and not looking up from her textbook.

When Juleka had picked up the books for her morning classes she had found a tiny box on the books. She had opened the box and a pair of fake eyeballs popped out and struck her eyes, leaving black-rimmed circles around them.

Keeping her eyes on the textbook was the only way to keep the teacher from noticing the ink around her eyes.

Ms. Mendievel started teaching the class about animal biology. The class was taking notes and trying not to think about what happened to Rose.

This wasn't the first time someone in their class had suffered from a misshape or been the victim of a cruel prank. In the last three days, nearly all the class had been targeted.

* * *

For example, Ivan had discovered an insulting letter taped to his locker. It also included a photo of him with marks all over it pointing out his ugly features. Strangely, there was a small pin inside the letter.

Mylene had sworn up and down she hadn't written the awful letter. She insisted the pin must have fallen off when she slipped on water in the girl's bathroom. There had been no sign warning her about the wet floor.

Nathanial and Alix had a loud argument when they accused the other of switching their art supplies with one another.

Alix had come home and discovered she was missing her aerosol paint cans from her backpack. Instead, she had numerous pencils and pens. The pens had been leaking destroying the interior of her bag.

She had confronted Nathanial the next day only for him to complain to her how her paint had destroyed his sketchpad. Things had been overwrought between them ever since.

The most malicious prank had been between Kim and Max. Both of them were very proud of their skills. They were protective of the items that helped them succeed.

So coming into the classroom and finding their belongings had been destroyed was very upsetting. All of Kim's swimming Speedos had been cut into tiny pieces spelling out the word imprudent. Max's robot friend Markov had been broken apart and reassembled in such a horrid manner, it would take days and new parts to make him work again.

No one knew what to make of it and so far campus security hadn't found any evidence to figure out who was behind this. However, these incidents were fraying class friendship even more than they had been.

Marinette was positive that these incidents were related to Lila in some way. She didn't have any evidence and Adrien pointed out they couldn't accuse her without it.

After science class, the class was heading back to their regular room when Chloe and Sabrina ran past the class, holding tightly on their pants and skirt. The loose thread was seen dangling between their fingers.

In that instant, the class figured out what was going on. Their clothes were unraveling and started to expose their undergarments. No one laughed at them. Instead, they all eyed each other suspiciously.

With all their bad luck the class knew this couldn't be a concurrence. Someone had cut the threads so they would start unraveling, but who?

Chloe and Sabrina didn't return to the classroom and neither did Rose. Three girls had been targeted and it was their clothes that got ruined. Whoever was responsible for this was targeting something specific to each person.

"I don't understand, shouldn't whoever's been doing this been caught by now?" Marinette whispered to Alya.

Alya gave a tiny shrug. "If they don't leave any evidence there's no way to figure out who is responsible. We have to hope this person slips up and gets caught."

"I hope that happens. We and our boyfriends are the only ones who haven't been targeted yet." Marinette silently thanked her kwami for being so alert and warning her if she sensed someone wanting to prank her.

Adrien was thinking the same thing. For extra cheese slices, Plagg kept surveillance for any signs of trouble. When he wasn't sleeping of course. Plagg was the king of catnaps.

When the school day ended most of the class went in separate directions. Everyone eyeing each other wary of what was going on in their classmates' minds. It was very heartbreaking to see.

Except for one person who was delighted by what was going on. Lila had been stalking members of Ms. Bustier's class learning their habits and figuring out the best ways to get under the skin.

"Making the class suspicious of one another is going perfectly. I need the bonds to slowly tear apart. Once they're on the tipping edge, I can set my plan into motion," the girl whispered to herself on her walk home.

"Since things are going so well at school, it's time to start my campaign at home. Hope you can handle having your biggest secrets exposed mom and dad." She laughed to herself actually skipping home in delight.

* * *

In Columbia, three days had passed since Paz Alfaro was shot. She currently was dealing with the gunshot wound to her right arm. The bullet had passed straight through the upper arm just two inches above her elbow.

She was extremely lucky. The bullet had caused some damage to her soft tissues by going through her muscles. The injury had bled for a bit. Thankfully, the doctors managed to stop the bleeding and she was given some pain pills to help alleviate some of the pain.

It required twenty stitches to close the wound which had been done once the wound in the muscle had been dealt with. A simple MRI showed no nerve damage and it was predicted her muscles would make a hundred percent recovery.

While the woman was pleased to hear this, she wasn't so happy that she was forbidden from using her dominant arm for several weeks to help it recover. While she could do light work her job often had her doing very serious work to keep up with her responsibilities.

Presently, Paz was in her hotel room, carefully cleaning the area around her wound. "Hard to believe such a small thing could do so much damage. I really wish Duusu was here. She would be able to help."

Duusu's abstract was healing for both mental and physical pain. If she had one of Duusu's healing feathers it would have fixed her wound completely by now.

You need to stop thinking about what you don't have and figure out how you're going to manage this injury. After all, the Security Council hasn't ordered me back yet, so they do believe I can finish the mission.

Redressing the wound, she put her arm back into the sling. Never had she felt so humiliated before. Of course, she had been injured before. She had broken her pinky toe on her left foot when she was a child during training.

On one peace mission, she had been assigned to, someone had slashed a small opening on her left side. Her doctor had been able to stitch it up and used some medication that reduced the scar until it was almost non-existent.

"I never expected to be shot. Wayzz's Kwami Charm has always kept me safe before. I should have been wearing body armor under my clothes," Paz/Ning admonished herself.

Easing herself onto the bed, she opened the folder she had put there earlier and looked over the contents inside. It contained a copy of the police report about the shooting.

The report was rather short and didn't mention anything about evidence or suspects that the police were looking into. It was not surprising since the attack had occurred at the human right advocate's office who supported equal justice reform. She imagined a few police officers were very pleased by the attack.

None of the politicians were happy. This attack had not only targeted another human rights advocate. It had targeted two UN members. This not only demonstrated that Columbia's peace process wasn't going well, but it also showed the people would rather kill then accept the idea of peace.

"All the progress that's been made and it takes one violent act to regress the peace efforts in this country. I hope the police get their act together and seriously investigate the attack. If they don't, then its further proof that Columbia is not going to cooperate with international law and human right violations."

Since Columbia was already one of the top countries with human rights violations harsher penalties would have to be implemented. Penalties that could lead to the disablement of the peace efforts plunging the country back into another fifty years of war.

If this happened, she didn't believe even the Miraculouses could help bring about peace. "This needs to be fixed or at least managed before I leave. Meaning I have to ignore the urge to contact my father and focus entirely on this."

* * *

It was nighttime in Paris and one young couple was having a nice dinner date. Adrien was treating Marinette by taking her to a restaurant that was slightly higher than the ones she usually went to.

"I still can't believe your father allowed you out tonight to take me to a restaurant," Marinette commented. She was wearing a pink dress with soft green appliques on the trim that she had made herself.

"I know, I'm still surprised he's okay were dating. It's a good thing he thinks so highly of you. It is very hard to get his approval. I should know," Adrien replied sadly. He fiddled with the gold buttons on his green dress shirt trying not to get overwhelmed by his sadness.

Marinette gave him a comforting smile and gently placed her left hand over his. She squeezed it for a second letting him know she was there for him.

Recently, Mr. Agreste had been more involved with his son's life and making more of an effort to be a good father. He wasn't as consistent as he could be.

There would be a few good days or even a week when he was involved and showing affection to his son. Then he would withdraw and return to being distant and cold.

"I know your father's actions are confusing. I wish I could relate to you, but my dad has always been there for me. We're very close and he's involved in my life. Was your father always like this?"

Adrien sighed. "More or less. He wasn't as strict and was kinder to people when my mom was around. When she disappeared she took all his positive emotions away."

Marinette couldn't understand that. She was certain that if one of her parents disappeared or died, the other one would still feel happiness and love towards the world and her.

The waiter came by with their dinner. He placed two plates of seasoned roasted trout, a small serving of buttered shrimp and a seaweed wrap.

Adrien's eye lit up as he licked his lips. He was staring at his plate wondering what he should try first. After a moment's hesitation, he started devouring his trout with delight.

Marinette delicately picked up some seaweed and put it in her mouth. The flavor was not something expected. It tasted like iodine and it made her eyes water. She smelled it and the scent made her wrinkle her nose.

She chewed the seaweed before a few more minutes than swallowed it. She could feel it sliding down her throat as she hurriedly drank fresh water to get rid of the taste.

I don't like seaweed at all the designer thought to herself. She cut a small section of the fish and popped it into her mouth. Her taste buds hummed in delight as she ate the well prepared fish.

Adrien tried some of the shrimp but found them not cooked to his liking so he only at a few. To him the seaweed was wonderful. He did have an enhanced pallet when it came to gourmet food after all.

"So," Adrien started to ask as he wiped his mouth off, "How is your relationship with your grandpa going?"

"Good, I think. We're slowly learning about one another. He's offered to teach me his prize winning baking techniques on the weekends. I would love to learn how to bake bread in the traditional style."

While I don't want to be a baker for the rest of my life, learning more about baking bread would be a big help around the bakery. I know my parents could use it around holiday times.

"I'm glad that Leena intervened to help my grandfather realize that he needs to forgive himself for his actions and in turn receive forgiveness from my grandma and parents."

Tugging a little on her hem she did admit that while Leena's heart had been in the right place, she still had caused trouble wandering off by herself. "I think she's still getting lectured by Master Fu. He was furious with her for going off on her own and being discovered by someone."

"At least your grandpa thought she was just an exotic mouse. Considering he deliberately isolated himself from the world it wasn't as if he would have told anyone," Adrien joked.

Seeing his girlfriend's glare he coughed and took this more serious. He knew it was bad if a kwami was seen. It just felt wrong to him that the Kwamiis had to be on lockdown all the time. It reminded him of much of his own life.

"I just wish there was a way to keep them safe, but not restricted them so much."

Marinette silently agreed. Tikki had assured her that she was fine with spending her time hiding in the purse. She insisted a bit too much making the bluenette wonder how the kwami truly felt.

There will come a day when the Kwamiis can have a bit more freedom. We'll make sure of it.

* * *

The next day, Marinette was doing her best at trying to do her homework and watching Manon. The little girl was running her ragged. She had been working on her sewing skills for the last few weeks and wanted to try making a doll for herself.

"Please Marinette? You promised to help me! Pretty please?" Manon begged, using her puppy dog eyes.

Marinette tried to resist. She really needed to finish the homework. Manon poured on the cuteness and the girl caved in. "Alright, I'll help you get started on _one_ doll, but then I have to get back to my homework understand?"

Manon nodded happily and jumped up and down in joy. "This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to play with my doll!"

Marinette picked the girl up and sat her down on the chaise and got out the supplies for making dolls. "The first thing we need to do is design the pattern for the doll. Do you have something in mind?"

In response, Manon shoved a drawing she made in Marinette's face. The drawing was of Manon dressed up in a black and white cow outfit with a brown tail sticking out of the back. Attached to a belt was a keychain.

Marinette's heart started to beat faster. This outfit reminds me of Belle and the Miraculous is the same as well. How would Manon know about this? "Manon, this is a very good drawing of you. What inspired you?"

The little girl preened happily to get such praise from a real fashion designer. "I think cows are so cute! They so big and soft and they make the cutest sounds! My mom is always telling me to drink more milk so I can be a big girl someday. So I decided to draw me in a cow costume.

I was playing with my mom's keychain while I was drawing so I thought I add it in. Does it look like I'm a superhero?"

Marinette ruffled her hair and assured her it did. "I'll cut the pattern out since you can't use the right scissors. After that, we'll start working on putting the doll together okay?"

Manon smiled and wiggled in place. She was eager to get started!

As soon as Marinette was done cutting the pattern, Manon was ready to work. She very carefully sewed the two arms and pushed the stuffing into the arms. Marinette helped her pin the arms to the body pattern so she could sew the body next. She repeated the process of stuffing it and then created the legs.

Marinette used her machine to sew the pieces all together. It took an experienced and steady hand to keep the different parts in place. If Manon tried to do it, she would most likely hurt herself on the machine.

Next came the pattern for the outfit. Manon was very impatient as she tried to translate her crude drawing into reality. "Why is this so hard? I thought you could create anything Marinette!"

The teenager tapped the little girl's nose. "Manon, if you want this to look super nice, then you have to wait a tiny bit more so I can make the pattern perfectly. After all, the youngest superheroine in Paris needs to look extra special right?"

She started to tickle Manon on her tummy as the child tried to swipe her fingers away. It was nice to hear those happy giggles.

When Nadja came to pick up Manon, the little girl showed her the doll she made. It was a better looking version of her drawing. "Marinette even helped me style the hair so Hathor looks just like me!"

"Hathor?" Nadja asked Marinette with a raised eyebrow.

Marinette shrugged her shoulders. "She wanted her doll to be a superheroine so I told her the name of a cow from mythology. She liked it a lot so I added a tag on the back of the outfit with the doll's name for Manon."

"That was very sweet of you. I'm glad Manon has such a capable teacher. Come along Manon." Mother and daughter waved good-bye leaving the teenager with a lot to think about.

That night as Ladybug and Chat Noir patrolled the rooftops of Paris, Chat Noir noticed his partner was quieter than usual. She hadn't even groaned at his latest pun.

They came to a stop a block from the school. "My Lady, is something wrong? You're not usually this quiet."

Ladybug held her arms together starred across the city imagining how many people that were out there, needing protection. What if Hawkmoth started to branch out even further than his current comfort zone? How long would it take to get across the city of the akumatized person was on the opposite side of the city?

"I babysat Manon today and helped her make a doll of herself as superheroine today." Ladybug closed her eyes for a few seconds the spoke over her shoulder again. "Chat, she designed her outfit to look like Belle the kwami. She even got the right Miraculous."

That caused Chat to take a step back as his mind reeled. "How did she do that? Has she seen a kwami before?"

Ladybug shook her head. "I also called Master Fu and asked if Belle had slipped out unnoticed, but no one's left the apartment in days. He was very upset with Leena and wants to make sure there's no repeat of her adventure."

Chat let out a sigh a relief. "Maybe it's just a coincident. Does Mano even like cows?"

Ladybug nodded and repeated what Manon had said about them. "Just the idea she might know troubles me. Hawkmoth's power keep growing and we know he has a partner, who is misusing Duusu to help him.

The battles are getting harder and we need to call on support more often than ever. I think we need to come up a list of possible wielders for the different Miraculouses."

"Perhaps, but we shouldn't keep that list with us or where anyone could find it. Also, we need Master Fu's approval. Maybe we should talk to him about this after we give it a bit more thought."

His girlfriend smiled happy that he was on board with the plan. Hopefully, they wouldn't be needing outside help anytime soon.

* * *

The next day at school, something was going on between Chloe and Sabrina. Chloe had been making steady progress on becoming a better person and Sabrina was learning to stand up for herself.

The improved relationship was not stable at the moment. Chloe had a very unhappy expression on her face as she watched something on her phone in the courtyard. Sabrina looked like she was trying to cheer Chloe up.

"Come on Chloe, everyone knows you're a fantastic person. I'm sure Ladybug has noticed that. After all, you helped her before with akumatized victims," Sabrina pointed out.

Chloe didn't acknowledge Sabrina, just kept staring at the video she was watching. It was a video taken during Heroes Day, showing the six heroes saving people all over the city.

Why hasn't Ladybug offered me a Miraculous? Obviously, there are more Miraculouses out there. Who knows how many. Have I improved enough to show I deserve one to help Ladybug out?

She paused the video and looked at Honey Bee. She was the one her family had fought against. That small girl was strong enough to pick Anti-Bug up and toss her over the heroine's shoulders.

"I wish I could have been the one with the bee Miraculous and saving the day. Yellow is my color and I could direct a swarm easily."

Sabrina patted her friend's shoulder. "Of course you would make a good bee. You would be the queen of bees I just know it!"

Chloe kept her head down and played the video again. She wasn't paying close attention to Sabrina, who was rambling on about how Chloe could use any of the known Miraculous better than their wielders.

I'm not creative like Ladybug or focused enough to use Chat's power. I'm not clever like Rene Rouge and I'm certainly not capable of being as protective as Carapace is.

Honey Bee is kinder than me, which is why she can direct a swarm of angry bees. The mysterious Kkachi powers up others and I wouldn't want to do that. What would I be good at?

"And that's why you would be amazing if you had all the powers of the Miraculouses Chloe!"

"What? Sabrina, what did you just say?" The blond asked with a touch of irritation on her tongue.

"I said that you would be the best heroine in the whole world if you had the powers of every Miraculous wielder!"

"NO, I WOULDN'T!" Chloe yelled as stood up angrily and clutched her phone tightly. "I'll never have the skills or characteristics of our heroes! I'm not good at any of the things they do! I need my own unique thing, Sabrina, can't you see that? You are so insensitive at times!"

Chloe power walked away trying to avoid crying in public. She knew she had hurt Sabrina's feelings, but Sabrina had hurt hers too. Saying she could be something she couldn't be.

In the courtyard, Sabrina didn't bother trying to hide her tears. She had just been trying to cheer up her best friend. Make her realize she had to believe in herself. She was positive that one day would give Chloe a Miraculous.

"Was I being blasé to her feelings? I didn't mean to get her hopes up. Oh, I'm a bad friend! What should I do?" she muttered to herself. She didn't notice the akuma fly into a pen she had been holding.

"Miraculer, I am Hawkmoth. You were just being a good friend and your best friend screamed at you saying you were insensitive. Let me grant you the power to prove you mean what you say.

All I ask in return is for Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."

"Consider them yours Hawkmoth!" The purple smoke covered her and soon an akumatized Sabrina stood there in a new form.

She had long and messy fuchsia pink hair that was pointed at the top, light pink skin, and peach pink lipstick. She also had long eyelashes, and her eyes were now had a pink sclera, blue iris with a black outline, and blue pupils.

She had on a black mask with a pink outline. Her lower arms were pink, which contrasted to black, with a pink outline. Her upper arms and lower legs also happened to be light pink.

She was dressed in a black bodysuit that covered her neck, torso and halfway down above her ankle gloves, with a pink outline around her collar, armholes, and lower legs. On the center of Miraculer's bodysuit was a pink circle and a black question mark.

"Time to show Chloe how amazing she can be!"

She jumped up to the second then the third level and went into the library startling everyone in there, including Alya. "There's my favorite blogger!" Miraculer chimed.

She jumped in front of Alya and used her tonfa to tilt the phone up higher! "Hi everyone! My name is Miraculer and I have a message for all the Miraculous heroes out there! I'm going to make each one of you realize my best friend Chloe is the single best hero in the city. Don't try to get in my way."

Laughing with glee she jumped out the window and started bouncing away, heading to the Le Grand Paris hotel.

Grabbing her backpack, Alya ran out of the library heading in the direction of the hotel hoping when she got there Ladybug would have her Miraculous with her.

* * *

Chat Noir ran across the rooftops keeping an eye out for Miraculer. As soon as they had seen the post, they had transformed. Ladybug went to fetch the other Miraculouses, leaving it up to him to track down the Akuma.

"Why do girls have to love pink so much?" he muttered to himself as he jumped across a rooftop. He was not expecting the Akuma to jump up and smack him in the stomach with her weapon.

The hero hit the next roof hard and clutched his stomach in one hand as he looked at Miraculer who was skipping in place. "I got you Chat Noir, I got you!"

"You got a lucky shot in. However, your luck just turned bad. Cataclysm!" He raised his hand expecting the power of destruction to form, but nothing was happening.

Startled he tried again, but it was the same result. Growling, he stopped trying to use it and instead tried to use Feline Bluff only to see his shadow remained the same. He had a feeling if he tried to tap into his special ability misfortune it would be the same results.

By now Miraculer was laughing loudly. "Ah, is the itty bitty kitty scared? He's got no powers anymore, but I do!" The tonfa glowed and suddenly a circle containing Chat Noir's symbol appeared above the mark on her chest.

She raised the hand that wasn't holding the weapon and shouted Cataclysm. Instantly, the black swirl of destruction appeared in her hand. "Let's see what happens when I use this on you!"

Chat Noir scrambled away before she could touch him. He held out his stick and made it extend into Miraculer's stomach. The Akuma let out a rumble of pain as her cursed hand scraped against the roof.

The power of destruction spread fast causing the room to collapse in mere seconds. Chat Noir had pole-vaulted over to another roof just in time to avoid being caught in the rubble.

He looked back and frantically looked around for the Akuma. The fake ears on the top of his head felt the air move closer to him so he quickly did a backflip over Miraculer before she could attack him again.

"You can't fool my feline senses. I know where you are and now that you have used my power you have nothing left to defend yourself with."

Miraculer smiled with all her teeth showing as she summoned Cataclysm again. "I'm not limited like you are. I can use your power as often as I want." She started towards him a trompo wrapped around her legs and she stumbled to the ground.

Chat Noir was relieved to see Honey Bee as she pulled on her weapon tighter. A yo-yo soon joined the top as the two weapons pulled tight trapping Miraculer in their strings.

Rene Rouge and Carapace appeared next to him. "Are you okay?" the turtle hero asked.

"I will be. Ladybug, Honey Bee! You need to be careful when taking her weapon. If it makes contact with you your powers are gone!"

The two heroines moved cautiously towards Miraculer, trying to come at her from behind. Honey Bee leaned over to grab the tonfa when Miraculer burst out of the strings and stabbed the weapon in both girls' stomachs before they could react.

Rene Rouge moved in bringing her flute up to her lips to use her power when the Akuma used Swarm to overwhelm the fox girl. She was so busy trying to beat the bees away she didn't see Miraculer strike her in the back taking her powers.

Carapace tried to secure her with his meteor hammer only for the Akuma to use her weapon to send it flying back and nailing him in the face. He was too dazed to avoid having his powers taken away.

"I've got not one, not two, but five powers now! Now Chloe will be the heroine for the whole city," Miraculer declared. She started to jump up only to stop. "Wait, five powers? But there are _six_ Miraculous heroes."

She stomped her feet and glowered Ladybug. "Where's Kkachi? I need her powers to complete the set!"

"Kkachi? Who is Kkachi?" Ladybug taunted as she managed to get up on her feet. The others had also gotten to their feet and were taking positions up next to their leader.

"Don't play games with me! Everyone saw Kkachi on Heroes Day!"

Rene Rouge chuckled. "She's just a little illusion I used to get the upper hand on Hawkmoth."

Hawkmoth's mark appeared over the Akuma's eyes assuring her that Kkachi was real. "I want Kkachi in the next five minutes or I'll wreak havoc on the city!"

Honey Bee looked at Miraculer with pity. "If you do that then how will it help Chloe become a heroine? Do you really want your best friend to fight you?"

"She doesn't have a choice," an unfamiliar voice called out. Everyone turned their heads in surprise. Standing on top of a water tower on the next roof over was Mayura. She had her left arm wrapped tightly around a terrified Chloe. Her right hand held her battle fan out so they could see the sharp tips of the peacock feathers inside.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Carapace demanded as he moved slightly in front of Rene Rouge to protect her.

"I am Mayura. I wield the power of the Peacock and I will not hesitate to use it if you don't do as Miraculer asks."

So she's Hawkmoth's partner. I can't believe she using Duusu's healing powers for evil. She could kill Chloe in an instant with the fan or using the peacock's offensive power.

What am I supposed to do? I purposefully left Honorra's Miraculous with the Guardian because we couldn't risk all the known ones falling into the wrong hands.

No matter how much Honorra pleads, Master Fu won't give in to her. Kkachi is not going to make an appearance so what can we do?

* * *

Unbeknownst to everyone assembled there was a backup on the scene to help. Hopper had felt a tug and Master Fu had given him permission to go out and assist the person in need.

That person happened to be Chloe. He had snuck into her room and was about to act like her conscious when he sensed Mayura heading towards the girl's bedroom. He had phased into Chloe's pants pocket just in time.

This akuma started because both girls were insensitive towards one another. Maybe I can help by getting Chloe to acknowledge she was being insensitive to her best friend.

If I use my powers this close to Mayura she may sense me and I can't phase through Chloe's body without the possibility of harming her. So I guess it's time for me to dig down deep into my inner frog.

Now Hopper did resemble a bullfrog, he was capable of things this species of frog was unable to do. Which meant he could create an ultrasonic sound like the rare concave-eared torrent frogs of China.

He started to croak and the vibrations went through the bones up to Chloe's ears. Thanks to his magic the ultrasonic sounds changed their frequency so they could be detected by the human ear.

_"Chloe, earlier today Sabrina was insensitive to your feelings about wanting to be a heroine and knowing you couldn't measure up to those who are heroes already. _

_Indeed, you can never be any of the heroes already out, but that doesn't mean you can't be one in the future with a different Miraculous.  
_

_ Sabrina was trying to tell you that, but she used the wrong words. Your poor reaction hurt her feelings too. Being sensitive to others is part of a good friendship. _

_ Your friend needs you right now. Try using a bit of sensitivity to get through to her." _

Chloe didn't know whose voice she was hearing in her head. She only knew it was right. To save herself she first had to save Sabrina.

"Miraculer! Sabrina, listen to me please," the blond begged which raised everyone's eyebrows. Sure, Chloe had started to act nicer, but she still had her pride.

Miraculer looked at her friend happily. "Yes, Chloe? You have an idea to help me get Kkachi's powers for you?"

"No, I don't, but that doesn't matter right now." Mayura grip increased making it difficult to speak. "Earlier today I got angry at you when you tried to cheer me up by saying I would be better than any hero if I had their powers. I was upset when you said that because I know it's not true."

Seeing Miraculer open her mouth the blond quickly continued. "You think I could be better than all these heroes assembled if I had their powers. The truth is they're already the best for each power.

Even though you didn't understand why I was upset I shouldn't have made you feel upset either. A good friend is sensitive to others even if that means their friend was accidentally insensitive to them. I'm sorry Sabrina"

Miraculer looked shocked to hear her best friend apologize to her. "You mean that?" Chloe nodded her head making Miraculer feel an explosion of happiness.

The Akuma looked at her weapon and knew she didn't need to give Chloe powers anymore. She started to hand it over to Ladybug when Hawkmoth's mask appeared over her face and she screamed.

Her arm was forcefully pulled back and she felt her feet moving towards the heroes ready to snatch their Miraculouses.

"Help me!" Miraculer screamed as she tried to regain control over her body. She had brought her weapon up as she got ready to slam it on top of Ladybug's head.

Ladybug caught the weapon in her hands and struggled to get it out of Miraculer's hand.

The other heroes split up. Honey Bee, Carapace, and Rene Rouge went after Mayura while Chat leaped over to help Ladybug.

Seeing the three heroes coming after her, Mayura dropped Chloe. Honey Bee dove down hoping to catch the girl before she hit the ground. Mayura's throat glowed blue and she called out, "Raging Call!"

The fox and turtle stopped in their tracks as the soundwave hit them. They clutched their ears tightly trying not to scream as they felt their insides rattling in pain.

Mayura took off running to get away while she had the chance. Honey Bee saw her but didn't pursue her because she had a civilian in her grasp. She couldn't endanger her.

Back with Miraculer, Ladybug had managed to regain her powers. At once she summoned a Lucky Charm, which was a pillow. As the others dog piled on top of Sabrina, Chloe shouted at Ladybug to rip the pillow up.

Ladybug did and quickly grabbed a feather that had burst out. She started tickling Miraculer who started to laugh hard. She dropped the weapon.

Chat destroyed it and Ladybug purified the akuma before releasing her cure. Everything returned to normal as Chloe hurried over to her friend.

The heroes got to witness a best friend hug between the two girls which made this the perfect ending for such a stressful day.


	4. Confident

**Hello everyone! I just wanted to mention the episode I'm using in the chapter will be a bit different because I'm using my ideas for the rabbit Miraculous instead of the shows. **

* * *

In the therapist's office, Lila was huffing angrily as she held her arms together and tapped her left foot angrily in the waiting room. Her mother, Oliva, ignored her daughter's tiny tantrum.

Oliva and her husband had looked for the best person to help them treat their daughter's pathological lying. Dr. Kevin Rocky at the Choice Behavioral Center. He was an accomplished therapist and had treated plenty of disorders over the years.

Dr. Rocky had been using cognitive behavior therapy to help Lila. He had focused on understanding the reason behind Lila's inability to tell other people the truth. He would also give her homework assignments to do and then see if she finished her assignment or not. That would be an indicator of her desire to change and work with him to get better.

"Miss Rossi, Dr. Rocky can see you now," the desk clerk told Lila. The girl had no desire to leave her chair, but was pulled up from her seat and marched into the therapist's main office.

A middle-aged slightly balding man, wearing a purple dress shirt and black pants sat at his desk as the two ladies seated themselves. "It's good to see you, Lila. How are you feeling today?"

Instantly the scowl was gone from Lila's face as she smiled happily. "I'm very happy today Dr. Rocky. It is always good to see you."

"Lila, I asked you not to lie to me. I observed you in the waiting room. You are not happy to be here and you're angry that your parents are making you come here."

"I don't know what you mean sir. After all, I want to get better."

Instead of engaging her, he looked at her mother. "To your knowledge did Lila complete her homework assignment?" The homework he had assigned was a simple exercise. Lila was to write one truthful thing in her therapy journal.

"I know she wrote something in it, but I didn't check it."

Lila withdrew the journal and handed it over to the therapist. He looked in the journal and then at her. The girl watched him like a hawk trying to gauge what he was thinking.

Dr. Rocky put down the journal. "Miss Rossi, when I told you to write one truth in your journal, I didn't mean something humdrum. Going to school this week is not the real truth. I wanted you to admit something about yourself that was true."

"I did admit a personal truth. Sometimes I skip school so saying I went to school all week is a personal truth to me."

Oliva rolled her eyes and sternly told Lila to stop going around her assignments and do them properly. "You've been coming here once a week for a few weeks now. You haven't properly finished any of your assignments."

Dr. Rocky asked for Oliva to calm down. Getting upset at her daughter wasn't going to help things. "Lila, do you understand why you are here?"

"Of course I do. I'm here as part of my punishment for playing a joke on a friend."

"That's partially true. Do you know another reason why you're here today?"

"Because my family doesn't believe me even though I'm telling the truth they don't believe me."

"Do you think that is an accurate statement or are you just twisting words around because that's what you believe is true?"

"I know it's true! They are punishing me for doing exactly what they taught me to do. Tell amazing stories so people will believe whatever you tell them. Then it's easy to get them to do what you want. Whether they invest in the company or buy your products, stories sell."

Dr. Rocky wrote something down and asked when she had learned this lesson. The girl replied she had been told all her life and rewarded for it so why was lying bad?

He handed the teenager some worksheets, one of them was a bubble diagram. Each bubble represented something different. They were labeled thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

He instructed her to fill each bubble out by starting with a particular thought, the emotions she felt and what her behavior had been in response. He wrote an example for her to follow.

Lila quickly filled it out and handed it back. That was not a good sign. As expected she had written down what she thought he wanted to hear, not what she thought and did.

The rest of the session was very similar. When the session was over Dr. Rocky gave Lila a packet of worksheets she was supposed to complete before their next session and that she was to journal about her thought-emotion-behavior process every day.

As they left Dr. Rocky checked over his notes. So far, he could discern that his patient fit the classic symptoms of a pathological liar and that she exhibited signs of anti-social behavior and she had no desire to change.

Lila was also manipulative, attention-seeking, and controlling. These were traits of someone with a narcissistic personality disorder. That was extremely worrisome.

When you have both disorders together, the person is impossible to trust and lacks empathy to other people. Even when she had been exposed the teenager continued her negative actions without any real reason other than her personal belief that she was right and everyone else was wrong.

He would need an MRI of her brain to be sure, but he was almost a hundred percent positive that Lila's brain had more white matter and less gray matter. If it did, it meant that she was born this way and would never change simply because her brain wasn't capable of it.

* * *

In Columbia, Paz Alfaro was finishing up her report to send to her superiors about how the peace process was going after their visit. She had been trained to be ambidextrous, but it still was problematic to type with only one hand.

"I am so ready to be able to use both hands again. Having to keep my arm in a sling to help it heal is not fun," she said to herself. "I know using magic to solve all my problems is wrong and selfish. On the hand, I'm not an effectual protector like this."

She had just finished typing the section about her getting wounded and what proper security measures to suggest be taken to the UN Representative.

"It is in my opinion that the Columbian government is not doing enough to protect activist. If fact, I believe they are taking steps to ensure the killings continue to allow the proper conditions to war once more.

Initially, President Durque appeared to be eager to follow through with his predecessor's plans for peace. Upon further investigation, President Durque was trying to placate to the UN party that all was well.

After the UN party left, I observed several protest marches against the alarming rate of killings of activists and human rights defenders since the country's 2016 peace deal. The initial number of dead was recorded to be 209. According to the protest groups, the actual number is closer to 702."

Paz double-checked for spelling errors and to look over her wording to see that it properly conveyed the seriousness of the situation. She also mentioned the international marches in different countries capitals including Washington D.C.

Figuring out the wording she wanted to use Paz advised that there needed to be more visual protection in both urban and rural areas to protect social leaders. She heavily implied that the government was stalling to take action, such as rural development, which was one of the main causes of these killings.

"Drastic and immediate action must be taken by the Columbian government to preserve the fragile peace between the FARC and the rest of the country. A firm presence and implementing agreements between the two groups would be the best way to lower the number of dead.

Roads must be constructed to connect the rural areas to the urban ones. Substituting crops, along with the capture of drug and radically armed paramilitary groups, would drastically reduce the number of murders of local leaders.

Rural areas require medical, educational, and technology help to thrive. The transition between the old ways and new ways would be rather difficult, but not impossible.

I have concluded that fear, distrust, and financial issues are the reason for the delay of projects agreed on between the two groups. As long as the FARC and Columbian Government continue their unofficial political war with each other, the ordinary citizens will continue suffering."

It took most of the afternoon to finish typing her report. It ended up being fifty pages long. She had to rewrite her executive summary several times because she kept adding her data findings.

The introduction was a lot easier to write because her bosses had already told her what to write there. Lastly, she just had to double-check her appendices were in order and she was done.

"All that's left to do is print multiple copies and send them to right parties. Hopefully, my report will help improve the situation in this country for everyone."

Now all I have to do is summon the courage to call my father and tell him about getting shot. That is not a conversation I really want to have the young woman thought to herself.

* * *

In Paris, Master Fu was looking through the Miraculous Book again. He was studying the pages of the Universal Miraculous Circle, hoping there was some information he had forgotten or could be helpful.

Universal Miraculous Circle

Name: Tikki. Animal: Ladybug. Abstract: Creation. Miraculous: Earrings. Food: Cookies. Gender: Female. Personality: Encouraging and responsible. Phrase: Spots On/Off. Weapon: Yo-Yo. Powers: Lucky Charm, Miraculous Ladybug/Warning Spots. Special Ability: Manipulation of Luck.

Name: Plagg. Animal: Black Cat. Abstract: Destruction. Miraculous: Ring. Food: Cheese. Gender: Male. Personality: Lazy and sarcastic. Phrase: Claws Out/In. Weapon: Baton. Powers: Cataclysm/Feline Bluff. Special Ability: Misfortune.

Name: Trixx. Animal: Fox. Abstract: Illusions. Miraculous: Necklace. Food: Eggs. Gender: Female. Personality: Adroit and seductive. Phrase: Tail Up/Down. Weapon: Flute. Powers: Spirit Foxes/False Trail. Special Ability: Illusions.

Name: Wayzz. Animal: Turtle. Abstract: Protection. Miraculous: Bracelet. Food: Baby Carrots. Gender: Male. Personality: Wise and respectful. Phrase: Shell Closed/Open. Weapon: Meteor Hammer. Powers: Shell Guard/Hibernation. Special Abilities: Spiritual Energy Detection.

Name: Pollen. Animal: Bee. Abstract: Community. Miraculous: Comb. Food: Honey. Gender: Female. Personality: Regal and stern. Phrase: Stinger Engage/Disengage. Weapon: Trompo. Powers: Swarm/Honeycomb. Special Ability: Malleable honey with venom inside.

Name: Nooroo. Animal: Butterfly. Abstract: Inspiration. Miraculous: Broach. Food: Yogurt. Gender: Male. Personality: Emotional and meek. Phrase: Wings Rise/Fall. Weapon: Cane. Powers: Champion Making/Chrysalis. Special Ability: Empathy.

Name: Duusu. Animal: Peafowl. Abstract: Healing. Miraculous: Pin. Food: Berries. Gender: Female. Personality. Placid and thoughtful. Phrase: Fan Spread/Close. Weapon: Battle Fan. Powers: Raging Call/Regal Shimmer. Special Ability: Visons.

* * *

"Just their basic abilities. No explanation of how these abilities can be amplified to do things that they normally can't do. I wish there was more here on how to do that."

Wayzz came over to his wielder and looked at him with a forlorn expression. How he wished he could help his master more, but his powers were simple. "If it helps Master. My powers can be expanded to make multiple Shell Guards if my wielder's will is strong enough. Only, it takes several years for a wielder to grow that strong."

Fu patted the kwami on the head. "That is helpful to know old friend. It is unfortunate that I am too old and young Nino is too inexperienced to use that." He looked at the illustrations once more and asked his kwami if he knew anything about his "siblings" abilities.

Wayzz shrugged his shoulders. "Besides the Peacock's ability to manipulate both physical and mental health I'm not sure. It's been some time since I've worked with my "siblings" to our full extent.

I'm sure there's more to their powers then explained in this book, but you would have to ask them about it."

Fu was afraid that would be the answer he would receive. Hawkmoth my use the same strategy when trying to capture the Miraculouses, but he was also very cunning when it came to obtaining more power.

The wielders encounter with Mayura was also another reason he was hoping to find more about the Universal Circle. Whoever Duusu's new wielder was, the woman was bold and conniving. She had not hesitated to use a hostage to get her way.

She must be feeling the side effects of using a damaged Miraculous. Her health should start to decline, depending on the amount of time she uses it. Hopefully, she's smart enough to not use it often.

"With both Nooroo and Duusu surrounded by so much negativity, I hope they are able to handle to keep their strength up."

Wayzz nodded in agreement. His circle was considered the most powerful for a reason. They had abilities that could affect the universe if they weren't careful. "At least we have some of their power on our side. Even with a tenth of their strength, it is still an advantage we should use when necessary."

Fu was about to reply when Honorra hurried towards him. She had a panic look on her face. "Master Fu! Come quickly! Ning is on the computer and she's been gravely injured!"

Dread filled the old man up as he hurried to his computer and looked at his daughter on the screen. He saw the sling and wondered how badly she was injured. "Hello, Ning. I'm glad to see you."

Looking past Ning he saw that she was in a bedroom at an embassy or a fancy hotel. Parts of her disguise lay on the table next to her. That made him slightly more concerned. She rarely if ever removed her disguise while on a mission.

"What happened Ning? Honorra came flapping over and said you were gravely injured and it doesn't appear you're really injured besides a sprained arm."

Ning sighed dramatically and slouched in her chair, another indicator something was off. "I didn't know if I should contact you or not. I don't know what the situation is like in Paris is right now and I am fine despite my injury. This was a mistake, I shouldn't have called."

"Oh please Ning, please tell us what's wrong," the little magpie pleaded, making her eyes as watery and big as she could. True, Kwamiis couldn't be captured on camera or filmed so normally even video chatting was impossible.

Nooroo's power was able to negate that allowing Ning to see the Kwamiis on screen as long as she kept his charm active. Knowing this, Honorra was trying her very best to get Ning to open up.

Letting out another sigh, the secret agent looked around to double-check for listening devices and then spoke quietly. "I was shot."

"SHOT!?" several voices exclaimed at the same time. Fu's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. He had only adopted Ning a short time ago and she was telling him she was shot?

"Would you please not scream?! I'm still on my mission and I don't need my boss to come in here to find out I'm talking to magical beings!" Ning shushed as her eyes darted back and forth from the screen to the door.

After they calmed down Ning explained what had happened and her frustrations about her injury. She mentioned how much she wished Duusu could be here to heal her arm because she didn't want to carry it in a sling for six to eight more weeks.

"When are you leaving Columbia? I can search to see if I have a healing feather from Duusu lying around somewhere."

"Tomorrow afternoon. It's a long flight back to New York and that includes my debriefing. I don't know if I'll even get a day off before I'm sent out again. I might not be able to get to visit Paris anytime soon."

This was dispiriting to hear. He had hoped she would visit soon so he could get her opinion on Mayura and possibly get a clue to who she was out of costume.

"I hope you heal swiftly Ning. If I do find a feather hopefully you can make a short jaunt over here to get healed."

* * *

The next day, Master Fu went searching through his vast supply of ingredients for potions to see if he had a feather from Duusu. He recalled a few days before the fall of the temple, he and his mentor had taken a few feathers from Duusu and her temporary wielder back then.

The Friendship Circle were hanging out in his bedroom talking with Wayzz and Honorra. Since the two had gone to the school to observe the situation, they wanted more of their input about what they should be focusing on.

"To recap, we have managed to help Kagami be honest to herself and feelings, which I think is helping her make stronger bonds with friends," Redda reminded the group.

Leena rubbed her little paw/hands together. "With my help, not only was a relationship developed between Marinette and her grandpa, it mended a family rift so now she has more support to lean on for help."

Hopper stretched out his long legs and added how he was glad that Chloe and Sabrina's friendship was better now that they were more sensitive to each other's feelings.

Honorra acknowledged the three and thanked them for their service. "Your abstracts have helped start the process of healing. Still, the rift between the classmates remains and I fear the bonds of friendship will be severed if we don't figure out a way to make something big happen."

While the Kwamiis wondered what would be big enough to be a catalyst for changed, in the safe hidden below the bed, the Miraculous Chest containing the Universal and Chinese Zodiac Circles started to glow.

One drawer opened and the Miraculous inside started to glow and emit a high pitch ringing sound. The Kwamiis all covered their ears crying out in pain.

It was this sound that alerted the Guardian something was wrong. He hurried into his room and soon found himself holding his ears. He felt like his brain was going to liquesce.

"Where's the sound coming from?!" he hollered. His kwami used one hand to point to the floor before resuming covering his ears. The sound seemed to be increasing.

Steeling himself, Fu removed his hands from his ears and crawled across the floor and slipped under the bed opening the safe. Instantly, he grabbed the glowing and wailing Miraculous and crawled out.

Pressing the top of the Miraculous, it popped open revealing a pink hologram of a fancy woman. The noise stopped as the hologram spoke in a lovely voice. "Time stream disruption. Repeat, time stream disruption. Wielder needed to fix disruption."

The hologram dissolved and Fluff the Kwami of Time, popped out looking a little dizzy. "When is it? Have I gone to the future or am I in the past? Is today the present with Hawkmoth trying to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses?"

The rabbit Kwami saw the Great Guardian was still Master Fu and that everything appeared to be as her fellow Kwamiis had described to her during their attempt to contact Nooroo. That meant she was in the present.

The Guardian's ears were still ringing a little. When he spoke his voice was a little louder than normal. "Fluff! What is the time disruption and is it a fixed or changeable event?"

Time itself was extremely complex. Certain events could create alternate timelines or even create a time loop if no one was careful. Time itself moved through the universe and in the current, you could find a dam, (fixed), or a waterfall, (changeable).

Fixed and changeable described key moments in time. Fixed events are important events that shape the world. Example, the formation of the USA is fixed. However, the creator of invention like the lightbulb can change because it doesn't matter who created the invention only that it existed.

Knowing what the disruption was and determining the right event was key to fixing things. Fluff instinctively knew what the event and disruption were and how to fix it.

Fluff closed her eyes and her eyes twitched for a few seconds. "There is an Akuma from the future trying to disrupt the natural flow of time. This attack is changeable. If he is stopped by the current wielder of my Miraculous, then this event will never happen and be a distant memory for those involved."

As the Guardian absorbed this information, the girls had hurried into the kitchen and returned to the bedroom with the tablet. Bringing up the LadyNoir Blog they saw the live video stream of the attack going on.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting an Akuma who seemed to be rapping and his outfit was certainly reminiscent of a rapper. Not that any of them found that to be a good thing.

Timetagger had periwinkle skin, navy colored hair, and bright green eyes. Covering his eyes were green shades. His outfit consisted of a black hoodie with sky blue edges, the hood over his head, and black sweatpants. He also had on a yellow visor, there was a symbol of clock stitched to the back of the hood Around his neck, he had a gas mask colored sky blue with a neon yellow and a yellow chain necklace with a clock on it. He wore black sneakers with yellow and blue laces.

The Akuma was rapping about he was from the future and how he was going to help Hawkmoth by taking their Miraculouses before they unlocked more powers.

He held a paintball gun in his hand and was shooting at the heroes as they dodged about. Whenever a pellet hit either the ground or a wall a painted logo with his name would appear. At a snap of his fingers, he could teleport to another logo avoiding attacks.

"Yo you lame-os down yet or do I need to send you back when cavemen were still around!" Everyone in the apartment winced at the horrible rhyme.

Ladybug whirled her yo-yo aiming for the paintball gun only to have Timetagger teleport behind her and shoot his weapon at her.

Chat Noir slid into position and hit the paintball away from his partner. The downside to this was the paintball hit Alya. There was a two second flash of blue and Alya was gone, her phone hitting the ground as the live broadcast came to an end.

The Kwamiis all looked at the Great Guardian in fear. They had no idea what had happened to Alya and hoped he had an answer. He didn't know what to tell them. "From what we've seen of his abilities he's probably teleported her somewhere else in time. Everyone, come! We must prepare for our heroes arrival. They'll need help to take down this Akuma."

Five minutes later a frantic Marinette rushed into the work area. "Master Fu, we need help! The Akuma's from the future and he's sending people back in time!"

"I was watching on the LadyNoir blog and have already prepped the right Miraculous," he informed her as he handed her a box followed by a slip of paper. "The paper has everything you need to share with the wielder and a strong reminder to return the Miraculous once the mission is complete. Good luck Marinette."

Chat Noir was in the Louver Museum trying to catch his breath. Timetagger was a tricky opponent. Even with his enhanced cat-like senses, he couldn't figure out where the Akuma would pop up or who he would fire the paintball gun at.

He's already sent Alya, Nadja, and the mayor back in time if the exhibits here are to be believed. I really hope that Ladybug's power can bring them back.

He ducked behind a display case showing examples of Islamic Art in said wing as Timetagger actually _skipped_ through the exhibit. "All this art is boring and I have a schedule to keep. Come on out Chat Noir or do you want me to start shooting employees back to the Iron Age?"

When the superhero didn't appear, Timetagger started yanking on his chain. "Yo, Hawkmoth what's the deal? In the future this mission would have been over ten minutes ago you hear me? So give me something to work with man."

The purple butterfly outline formed around Timetagger's face. He winced and rubbed his ear as if it had been pulled. "Okay! Sheesh, no reason to get so uppity. I'll go to the Egyptian exhibit and see what trouble I can stir up."

Chat Noir waited several minutes before coming out of hiding. He texted Ladybug asking her where she was.

Her reply puzzled him. She told him to meet her in the girl's bathroom near the entrance with the pyramid over it. He shrugged his shoulders and carefully made his way to the bathroom to avoid being spotted.

Ladybug was waiting anxiously with Alix in the bathroom. The girl was super excited because the superheroine told her she would need her help, but they needed to wait for Chat Noir.

She was fiddling with the box in her hand trying not to stress out too much when Chat Noir ran into the bathroom. "Sorry I'm late, but it's a hustle to get to here when you're in the Islamic Art wing. So what's up?"

"We need help to defeat Timetagger and prevent him from ever being created. The only way we can do that is if the heir to the Miraculous I've brought helps," Ladybug explained and gestured to Alix who was ten seconds away from jumping up and down.

"However, there's a catch. This Miraculous gives it wielder tremendous power and it needs to be kept contained. If Alix starts to lose control of her power, you're the only one with the power to destroy a Miraculous leaving me vulnerable."

The two heroes exchanged a silent conversation with their eyes. Chat Noir didn't like this plan and neither did Ladybug, but it was their only shot at defeating Timetagger. Yes, it was very strange that Miraculous would have someone supposed to inherit, but that's what they were dealing with.

With the conversation over Ladybug turned to Alix and spoke to her solemnly. "Alix Kubdel, you are the heir to the Miraculous of Time. You are to use your power only when needed and only in a way that will stop the time distortion. As soon as the mission is complete you will return the Miraculous and never speak of this to anyone. Do you understand?"

Alix nodded and took the box into her hands and opened. What she saw inside surprised. "My watch? But I have it right here," she pointed out as she patted her pants pocket.

Ladybug shook her head. "Your watch is an almost exact replica. If you look closely, your ancestor wrote his initials on the back of the watch, unlike this one."

Looking at her watch Alix saw Ladybug was correct and was shocked her ancestor had been a Miraculous wielder. He had created the duplicate to pass down through his ancestors, a way of identifying members who had the potential to be future wielders.

"The last person in your family to wield this power was your great-great-grandmother. Thanks to her, Paris wasn't destroyed on August 25th, 1944 by the Nazis. Since then, its power hasn't been needed until now."

The spotted heroine took a slip of paper out her yo-yo and gave it to Alix. The girl quickly read it and flipped open the watch. Fluff popped out and floated in the air as the pocket watch took on its Miraculous appearance.

"It's nice to meet you, Alix. Your ancestors and descendants are very proud of you. It's time for your debut Bunnyx."

"Fluff! Clockwise!" The rabbit kwami went straight into the watch as Alix started to transform.

A baby blue and white bodysuit with pockets near her hips appeared. The black turtleneck collar had a white cotton ball attached to it. Her mask was blue at the top, and white at the bottom with small sapphire-colored circles at the corners. She had white rabbit ears with black lining, and baby blue on the inside.

On her back appeared a white tube with a light blue liquid inside. She slapped the watch into a cutout hole on her right pocket.

Pulling the tube off her back, she let the liquid inside ooze into her hand as she manipulated the gel-like substance. When she was finished it resembled a shield. Not her preferred preference, but necessary to keep her safe until she could use her power.

* * *

Timetagger was bored to death. He was so sick of seeing old stuff that he started shooting the artifacts not caring where or when they went. "This is so boring! How am I supposed to get the Miraculouses if the heroes don't show up?"

Ladybug appeared just then, well not in the Egyptian Wing itself, but in the hallway leading up to it. "Timetagger, if you're from the future, then you know how this is going to end. Give up!"

The periwinkle Akuma laughed. "I know all your moves Ladybug. It's you who should give up!" He rapidly fired the paintball gun at the spotted teenager, who used her yo-yo to create a shield.

Timetagger watched in amusement as she ran off. "You're retreating already? Who knew you were so pathetic. I'm going to rap you into the next century." He ran down the hall after Ladybug ignoring Hawkmoth yelling at him it could be a trap.

Timetagger followed Ladybug out of the museum and back towards his graffiti logos. He noticed several of them were now covered in black paint making it impossible to use.

Chat Noir had a can of black paint in his left hand and a paintbrush in his right as he finished covering another logo. "Oh, hey time traveler! Your logo was such an eyesore so I painted over as many as I could. Do you like my work?"

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO RUIN MY PERFECT LOGO!" Timetagger screamed. He aimed directly at Chat Noir's heart intending to send the hero to the age of dinosaurs and fired.

The hero just stood there not moving. Seconds before the paintballs hit, Bunnyx jumped in front of Chat Noir and her metamorphic gel shield deflected the paintballs as they flew back towards the Akuma.

He teleported to a different logo and looked alarmed to see a rabbit themed heroine standing next to Chat Noir and Ladybug. "Who are you? There's not supposed to be a third superhero today!"

"Timetagger stop your whining and get their Miraculous. If you don't how am I going to receive them in the future?"

"You're not Hawkmoth. The Hawkmoth of my time is my number one lady."

Hearing this shocked everyone. To hear Nooroo and his Miraculous were still being abused was too much for them. They had to end this fight right now!

"Lucky Charm!" A red and spotted notepad fell into Ladybug's hands. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Her eyes darted about as she looked for the clues to help her figure out. Her Ladybug vision highlighted the ground, Chat Noir, Bunnyx, along with Timetagger's paintball gun and the notepad. She knew exactly what to do.

She ripped out several pieces of paper and wadded them up into a ball. "Chat Noir, the ground!"

"Got it, My Lady!" He slammed his palm on the ground, "Cataclysm!" The ground started to disintegrate as the destructive power spread across the plaza.

Timetagger let out a frightened squeal and leaped to safety. Once he was back on his feet he saw all his logos were gone and he could no longer teleport! "Not cool! I won't let my number one lady down!"

He brought his weapon up and squeezed the trigger. Nothing came out. He tried twice more and nothing happened. He turned the gun over to see why nothing was coming out of the barrel.

There was a wad of paper stuck in the barrel blocking the paintballs path. "How the heck get that there?"

While he was distracted, Bunnyx rushed towards him, her metamorphic get was now a rod and she lunged. The weapon came in contact with the paintball gun. "Time Port!"

The paintball gun glowed baby blue and the gun returned to its original form, a music player of some sorts, before vanishing completely leaving the wad of paper on the ground.

"NO!" Timetagger screeched as he disappeared into thin air. With his possessed item being sent somewhere in time, he never got akumatized, which meant he never time traveled and the time disruption never happened.

Ladybug picked up the paper wad and tossed into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" In a minute everything was normal and the memory of the Akuma disappeared from the minds of everyone not wearing a Miraculous.

"That was so cool! I can't believe I helped defeat an Akuma," Bunnyx exclaimed as she pumped one arm. Then she started to swoon only to be caught in Chat Noir's arms.

The two heroes looked at each other. Using her power must have taken a lot of energy out of her. With their timers beeping they returned to the museum and helped Alix get into the girls' bathroom.

Ladybug praised Alix for her heroism and took the Miraculous back. Saying their goodbyes the two heroes scampered away before they changed back.

* * *

The next day at school, Alix was still on a high of her time as a Miraculous heroine. She wanted to express to everyone about her actions yesterday and she couldn't. She had promised not to do that.

In a huff, she went to the classroom to wait until the bell rang. When she entered she was surprised to see Nathaniel waiting by her desk.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "Do you have something else you want to blame me for or do you want to confess to your crime?"

Nathaniel tensed up and he looked down at the floor. His hands kept clasping and releasing. It was clear he was struggling to speak to Alix.

His body language completely changed and he was looking straight into her eyes. It seemed a switch had been turned on because when he spoke, his voice carried more confidence than usual.

"Alix, I didn't switch the contents of our backpacks and I don't think you did either." He took a deep breath and continued. "Things have been rocky between us lately. We've been getting into more arguments and I don't like that.

Alix, I feel like your pushing me away and that you're not being supportive as you could be. You helped me and Marc team up for our comic, which I'm grateful for. After that one time though, whenever I need advice about my feelings for Marc you shut down and tell me to deal with it."

The punk girl was taken aback by what the young artist was telling her. He knew how she felt about feelings and talking about relationships, which is why she kept telling him to deal with it on his own.

It surprised her Nathaniel, who had been her friend since école, was hurt by her attitude when it came to matters of the heart. Was she that ignorant not to notice how her words hurt her friend?

"You know how terrible I am when it comes to other people's relationships and talking about certain feelings. I don't even get too deeply involved with the girls and their relationships!"

Nathaniel gave her a look and she calmed down. "Sorry, but it's the truth. I don't know how to give you advice about something that I can't relate too. What do you want from me?"

"I would like it if once in a while drop the tough tomboy act and try to be the friendly and compassionate girl you can be when I'm struggling. You don't have to tell me what to do. Sometimes all I need is someone to just listen to what I have to say."

Alix blinked several times. Her brother Jahile had told their father the same thing multiple times, including the day he was akumatized. She believed that her father just didn't want to listen to nonsense, but did he also dismiss people when he couldn't relate to a subject?

"I'm sorry, Nathaniel. I never meant to make you feel as if I wasn't taking your feelings seriously or that I was trying to push you away. I'll try to be more supportive of you in the future."

The redhead smiled and thanked her before heading to his seat. She went to her seat. As Mylene took her seat next to her, it appeared like she was going to say something to her, but stopped.

During third period Mylene slipped a note to Alix, who quickly put it into her pocket before Ms. Bustier saw it. She would read it later.

* * *

Mylene was sitting on the steps leading into school after classes got out. She was waiting for Alix. Hopefully, she would be there soon. "Oh, what if she doesn't show up? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"What wasn't a good idea?" Alix asked as she sat down next to Mylene. She already had her helmet on and was putting on her roller blades. "Say what you need to say, I promised my dad I would be home soon to help him with cataloging a new exhibit."

"If you need to leave quickly, I guess we can talk about this tomorrow," Mylene hastily said as she started to walk away. Precipitously, she stopped and turned to face Alix. "I saw you talking to Nathaniel earlier and heard you say you were going to try to be a better friend. Are you going to do the same for me?"

The punk girl looked even more confused than when Nathaniel brought up how she wasn't being supportive enough. "What are you talking about Mylene?"

Mylene took a deep breath and let it out. "Even since we learned what Lila did to Alya, you've been keeping your distance from me. You act like I'm the next Lila."

"I don't know what…"

Mylene held up a hand to stop her from talking. "I know we're not as close as Rose and Juleka or supportive as Marinette is to Alya. We're undeniably not like Chloe and Sabrina, but I at least thought that as best girlfriends you wouldn't doubt me so much."

While the two girls might be opposite in personalities, they were good at helping each other when trouble came there way. Mylene's kind and shy nature help reign in Alix's recklessness, while Alix's courage helped her not to be so scared.

"I don't know if you consciously knew what you were doing or not. The important thing is that you have been and I've been trying to show you I'm trustworthy. Do you think you could do the same for me?"

Alix rubbed her arms and replied, "I haven't been paying attention to how my actions are affecting others. I know you're not Lila and you don't need to prove you're trustworthy to me. I would like to show you I'm trustworthy. So why don't we start over?"

Mylene smiled and thanked Alix. Both girls went their separate ways. None of them saw the tiny cow kwami Belle hovering near the roof with Ladybug.

"I guess you were right Belle. Nathaniel and Mylene just need more courage to talk to Alix about how they felt."

The cow kwami nodded her big head. "Sometimes all it takes is a little courage to speak up to your friends to mend a rocky relationship."


	5. Fun

In Paris, there were still ongoing problems with the friendships in Ms. Bustier's class. While, some friendships were growing stronger, such as Chloe's and Sabrina, and others were learning to be better friends, such as Alix, Nathaniel, and Myleene, others were having their own challenges.

At the moment, Ivan was alone in his room. He normally didn't hang out with others in the class, but since the start of the year he had been growing closer to all the guys and he enjoyed doing things as a group.

Right now though, he had nothing to do and Mylene was with the girls right now planning an upcoming community project for the class to do. As class representative, Marinette, along with her deputy Alya, were brainstorming to figure out what project would benefit the community the most.

"Maybe the guys want to hang out," the teenager thought to himself. He group texted, but apparently, they all had family responsibilities to take care of today.

Listening to heavy metal music wasn't making him happy, so he reluctantly left his bedroom and he plopped down at the kitchen table with a morose look on his face. His mom, who was going over the bills for the month, looked at her son with a fretful expression.

"Ivan, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine Mom," he mumbled.

"Ivan, please don't mumble. You can tell me what's wrong."

Ivan was disinclined to talk about his recent problems in trusting his friends and his girlfriend. After a bit more coxing he told his mom what was going on and why he was bored.

His mother hummed as she thought about what he said. "I can see why your trust in people is wavering. What that girl did to your classmate is a hard thing to understand. Even with people apologizing for past actions, it's not always the best way to renew trust.

Still, _you _also have to make an effort to show your trusted and good friend. When you found that letter in your locker, did you talk with Mylene about it or did you get angry with her?"

The muscular teen thought back to the day he got the letter and how he reacted. He had been very angry and demanding. Mylene had insisted she hadn't written it and that her pin must have fallen off, but he wouldn't believe her.

He loved Mylene and thought she was pretty amazing. In retrospection, he should have waited until he was calmer to talk with Mylene and really listen to what she was trying to say.

"Not really, mom, I was so angry I didn't want to listen."

"What about your bandmates in Kitty Section? Did you inform them about your uncertainty of them being untrustworthy?"

Again Ivan shook his head. While he had noticed some tension between the band; he didn't want to be the first person to admit that he had issues with trust lately.

"So I assume it's the same with your classmates as well. Are you having trust issues with your teachers or other adults? Do you trust me?"

He blinked furiously hearing his mom asking if he trusted her. "Of course I trust you. You're my mom! I know you love and care about me. I would never doubt you."

She smiled and played with his hair as he playfully tried to swat it away. "It is alright if you need some alone time to decide for yourself if you can still trust people, even if the person who was the victim of deceitfulness isn't you.

Just remember that your classmates are going through the same thing and trying to figure out where to go from here. Eventually, though, you need to talk to your friends and explain why you're having these problems.

If you don't talk about what is bothering you the situation will only get worse and eventually you'll stop being friends. It happened to me in lychee and I don't want it to happen to you"

Ivan understood his mom's concern and he didn't want to end up losing all his friendships, but speaking up was hard for him and he didn't know what to say in the first place.

His mother suggested he spend some time writing down the issues that were bothering him and then later write some practice speeches so he could get comfortable talking to his friends without losing his temper.

That sounded like a good plan. He would just have to remember not to sing or talk loudly, no one could understand what he was trying to say. Hopefully, he could figure out the right words to use.

* * *

At the same time, Ivan was trying to figure out what to write Paz Alfredo was on the new train going from London to Paris. She had not expected the Security Council to change her plane ticket to send her to the United Kingdom.

They had wanted her to see a muscle specialist to determine how long the muscle would remain damaged and if it would cause problems in the future. The doctors in Columbia had given their opinion and they wanted a second opinion due to the need for Peace Keeper's assistance in difficult missions.

The specialist examined the injury and reviewed the records of the treatment his patient received. The entry site was fully healed with only a slight scar to indicate where the bullet entered.

As for the muscles, tests indicated the second-degree muscle injury was healing a little slower than normal. The muscles had absorbed a lot of the impact and with some of the tissue missing the body had to work a little harder to recreate the muscle fibers in her arm.

The doctor had informed her while she had started to recover over the last two week and a half weeks, she would need to continue wearing the sling for another seven because of the delay in healing.

"The delayed healing might indicate my arm won't be a hundred percent again. It might slide down to nighty seven or nighty six. If that happens, I'll need a least a few months to get use to less strength in my right arm," she whispered to herself.

Who knew what could happen in those few months? Peace missions might be more vulnerable without her there as extra protection or representative in a meeting could take a kind gesture in one culture as rude in another.

Then there were at home duties. Reviewing missions and giving recommendations for future missions. Help in evaluating countries and their progress, even her testing new technology could be interrupted by this.

So instead of going home to New York, she had spoken with the UK and France Representatives about going to a holistic healer to see if there was anything to do. They had been doubtful about this approach, but she had managed to convince them to at least try it.

Which was why she was on the train heading towards Paris. Hopefully, her father had found a healing feather or he knew of a potion that could help her. Even if he just restored her energies to normal would be a big help.

Arriving in Paris by train was a new experience for Paz/Ning. No waiting in long lines for her luggage, no security checkpoints, just a simple ID check and stating her purpose.

Outside the wind was blowing hard. Storm clouds were moving in. She needed to get to her father's shop quickly. "Does he even know how to drive or a car?" she wondered out loud as she called his number.

"Hello, this is Mr. Chan. Would you like to make an appointment at my parlor?"

"Hello, Father." She heard something crash in the background and a lot of squeaking voices asking a lot of questions.

"Ning? I thought you were back in New York! Did you disobey your bosses?"

"Nothing like that I assure you. I was sent to London to get a second opinion on my wound and to see if there was a way to speed up recovery. When the specialist was unable to help, I suggested a holistic treatment so here I am."

Again she could hear little voices cheering in the background happy to hear she would be coming over for treatment. "The reason I called is I was wondering if you could pick me up at the train station. I want to avoid more people staring at me. Do you have a car?"

"No, but a friend of mine would be happy take me to pick you up. I will see you in about twenty five minutes." Putting her phone away Paz/Ning sat on a bench waiting for her ride to pick her up.

* * *

The next day at school, Max was finding it rather difficult to find someone who wanted to test his personally designed video came out. He worked so hard to create a fun game which tested a person's skill and mind.

He had asked Kim to play with him, but his best friend had told him he needed to help Ondine prepare for her next swim meet. He asked the other boys in his class except they all declined.

Well, Ivan agreed to play the video game the next day, because Kitty Section had band practice today. While this cheered up Max a little, he wanted to play his game with someone _today_.

He approached everyone else in the class, including video game fanatic Marinette. "Do you want to play the video game with me? There are multiple characters to play as and its elimination tournament style."

Marinette gave him a sweet smile. "I can't play right now. I'm behind on some commissions and their deadlines are coming up. I could possibly squeeze in some time after dinner or tomorrow at the latest," she told him kindly.

Even with the promise, she would play with him later, Max's shoulders slumped. Even Markov was not an option.

His robot friend was almost back to normal. Max was waiting on a special computer chip he needed to replace the one that helped Markov process his emotions.

"Why will no one carve out time to play with me now? I've spent weeks working on this game and the only people who offer to play with me tomorrow? This isn't fair!" he growled as he angrily started walking home.

He didn't notice the akuma fly into his glasses. "Your right Gamer. Your hard work should be recognized immediately. Too many people are putting work above fun and that needs to change.

With an upgrade, you can defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir over and over until you win their Miraculouses for me. Just remember, Dreamwalker and Were-Blanco are NPC in your game."

"Of course Hawkmoth, now let's play!"

A giant black and green pyramid formed over the sports stadium. All over the city, people who had been akumatized were disappearing. The pyramid started to flash bright green as Gamer 2.0 laughed manically.

A broadcast screen appeared in the air. "Ladybug and Chat Noir! To save the people I've kidnapped, you need to beat me in the ultra-fun game I, Gamer 2.0, designed. You better hurry because I'm going to reset it in ten minutes if you don't show. Then its goodbye to all my hostages."

In Master Fu's shop, Ning was in the guest room watching TV when the broadcast played. "I need to get there to help them fast!" She reached down for her uniform and whined as the sling got in the way. "Dang injury!"

Master Fu entered her room. "What do you think you're doing Ning? You need to rest if your injury is going to heal properly."

"I can't stand around and do nothing! They're going to need help since we don't know what Gamer 2.0 new game is about," she yowled as once again her sling got in her way as tugged her uniform on over her feet.

"Don't you dare take that sling off young lady! You need to rest if you're going to get better," Master Fu scolded her. "I promise I'll find something to help you heal faster. Just sit tight and let the heroes solve the problem themselves. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Ning tried to relax and rest and found she couldn't. Her training was screaming for her to assist the heroes of Paris. The massive pyramid was still covering the sports stadium and flashing green after fifteen minutes.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" she hissed loudly. She felt a kwami land on her leg. Looking down she saw Otto gazing up at her, his little eyes sparkling in delight. "Can I help you, Otto?"

The little kwami shook his head slightly. "You can't help _me_ right now, but I can help _you_ right now."

The Great Guardian's Apprentice raised a single eyebrow at his statement. "How?"

"I heard you have half of my "cousin's Nooroo's power. Is that true," Otto asked innocently.

Ning nodded and explained most of that power had gone into upgrading her uniform and strengthening her mental connection to the little butterfly. She couldn't transform anyone or take control of an Akuma.

Otto also inquired about her retrocognition visions and had she been able reach further back. She told him she could view past events longer than before. "So how can you help me?"

"The Akuma is using a video game against Ladybug and Chat Noir? People play video games for _fun_. With your connection to Nooroo, you could use your visions to open memory of Gamer's prior akumanzation and synch up with his present one. With my powers over fun, we could create an avatar of you in whatever videogame the heroes and Akuma are playing in right now."

"Are you sure this can work? I haven't bonded with your Kwami Charm and Hawkmoth could sense me."

Otto only smiled at her and clapped his little paw/hands ready to play. He jumped up and hugged her neck.

Ning took a deep breath and focused her mind. She reached out to Nooroo, calling out for his help. She didn't hear him at all so she tried calling out again. This time, she got a faint whisper.

"_Ning, not a good time! I can't…"_

"_Nooroo, I just need you to focus on the memory of Gamer's first akumanzation. Your "cousin" has an idea of how to use that to help in the present." _

Nooroo didn't verbally respond. Instead, he let her view the memory he had of the first time Max had been akumatized. She saw Gamer as he fought against the Catbug robot. Felt his excitement as he gained power up and the fun of battling against the heroes.

Keeping her vision locked on that moment, she felt Otto sending his power through her and into the memory. The power searched for a connection and bonded with Gamer's emotions.

Suddenly her vision shifted and she was looking through Gamer 2.0 eyes. She was the one controlling Mother May I as the character battled against the Manicurist. Both characters fought hard as they tried to knock the other off the platform to the field below.

"_I'm in the game Otto, now how about helping me create an avatar?" _

Ning felt her mind detach from Gamer's as her body started to form in the middle of the platform. Gamer 2.0 and Chat Noir, who was in control of Manicurist, stopped their fight.

There was the sound a game makes when it glitches and finally Peace Keeper appeared in the game. Before Gamer 2.0 could react, Peace Keeper's avatar used her rope dart to snag the spoon out of Mother May I's hand and shoved the woman off the platform.

Mother May I dissolved into computer data and the spoon she had taken digitized as well and reappeared on the heroes win board.

"WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET IN MY GAME? THERE ARE NO CHEAT CODES IN IT!"

Peace Keeper gave Gamer 2.0 a sweet and stimulating smile. "Why don't you ask your investor? I'm sure he would love to tell you all about the one who hacked your game."

The butterfly outline appeared over the Akuma's face. The Akuma was not pleased with what he heard. "This is cheating! I don't like cheaters in my game. Get out get out!"

Peace Keeper rolled her eyes as Gamer 2.0 tried to use his controller to boot her from the game with no success. "Are you done whining? Like it or not, I'm in this game and I intend to play. So either whip me up a controller or let me stay on the platform."

Gamer 2.0 growled. He did _not_ want a third player fighting against him. Instead, he fiddled with the controls until a game version of Hawkmoth appeared on the platform.

"Since the heroes added an extra player so have I. My Hawkmoth avatar will act independently from me and battle you, while either Ladybug or Chat Noir's character will battle my character.

That's fair isn't Peace Keeper?"

She nodded as she got into her battle stance. Chat Noir selected Guitar Villain and Gamer 2.0 chose Oblivio.

The fight began as Guitar Villain started strumming his rock and roll tunes while flying on the dragon version of Fang. In response, Oblivio started shooting at the flying reptile.

The game version of Hawkmoth attacked her with his cane as Peace Keeper used her rope dart to block his strikes. Hawkmoth pushed her towards the edge of the platform.

"I don't think so. Regal Shimmer!" Duusu's Kwami Charm lit up as a flash of blue light blinded the supervillain for a few seconds.

It was enough for Peace Keeper to drop down and roll through the game characters legs. Standing up she kicked him in the back and he went toppling over the edge.

At that exact moment, Dragon Fang dropped Oblivio dropped Oblivio to the ground below. They had won the round as Oblivo's akumatized item was digitized to the heroes' side of the game board.

"Great job Peace Keeper! I'm sure Hawkmoth was blinded by your talent in videogames."

Peace Keeper groaned at the pun as Hawkmoth regenerated onto the platform. Ladybug selected Rollo-Polo and Gamer 2.0 chose Mr. Etiquette. Another fight was on as the match started.

The fights continued as both sides won matches. Peace Keeper, who was fearful she wouldn't regenerate, would surrender if she couldn't beat both characters, thus giving Gamer 2.0 the win.

Finally, it was the final round. Ladybug and Peace Keeper vs Gamer 2.0 himself and the Hawkmoth character. "You two ladies are about to lose for good! We're an unstoppable team now that we've seen all your moves."

"Don't be so arrogant," Peace Keeper warned him. A glance at Ladybug, who had selected her items and had her Lucky Charm, a bag of flour, was ready.

Ladybug Cataclysm the platform as Peace Keeper took flight with her jet pack. While the Akuma changed in Befana, Hawkmoth was flying through the air with the aid of flitter of butterflies.

Peace Keeper weaved through the air as she avoided Gamer's attacks on Ladybug. Hawkmoth also avoided the attacks summoning a few red butterflies and sending them after her.

"I hope this works or Ladybug is on her own," Peace Keeper whispered to herself. Doing a backward loop she avoided the red butterflies and landed on Hawkmoth's back.

The game character tried to shake her off as she held on with her legs. Her hands cupped a tiny butterfly gently. Nooroo's Kwami Charm glowed as the butterfly transformed into a Tenshi.

She gently placed the Tenshi on Hawkmoth helmet. A few seconds later the Hawkmoth character was turned into a Champion as he stopped trying to rid of her.

Instead, the two of them flew towards the ground. Peace Keeper remained in the air as Champion Hawkmoth touched the ground. He bowed before her before disappearing. A moment later, Gamer 2.0 was defeated and things were returned to normal.

Ning blinked her eyes and found herself back in her bedroom with Otto, who was clapping in delight. "It worked, it worked! You were able to help without leaving the bed."

"I was, thanks, Otto." Sustaining the connection so long had made her rather somnolent as she snuggled into the bed and started sleeping. The kwami left her alone as he levitated over to the kitchen.

* * *

His "siblings" were waiting for him. Master Fu was in the shop area taking care of clients and Wayzz and Honorra were taking naps.

"Did everything work out?" Twiggy asked curiously.

"It did. The Great Guardian choose wisely making his daughter his Apprentice." The kwami tapped his chin a few times before continuing. "It's a shame this Akuma was caused by someone who wanted to have fun with friends."

"Indeed. Perhaps you should remind the boy and the others in the class to make time to have fun. After all, having fun is an important part of friendship," Spinney commented as he hugged his "brother."

"But wait until you get permission from the Great Guardian to out and do that," Yipper suggested. The dhole like kwami eyed the door and strained to hear what was happening in the next room. The client seemed to very demanding.

"Though it might take some time. Considering the client seems very belligerent."

"Should one of us check on him?" Leena remarked.

Redda shook her head. "No, not with another human out there. Even if we only did a partial peak the risk would still be too great. We need to wait."

About two hours later Master Fu was finished with his clients. The Friendship circle had made their dinners while Wayzz and Honorra presented the Guardian with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich they had made by themselves

"Thank you kindly for the meal you two." He took a bite of his sandwich and enjoyed it. His eyes zeroed in on Otto. "I received a text from Marinette telling me about the Akuma attack. I assume you had something to do with Ning appearing in the game."

"She wanted to help and it was a fun game. She did terrifically!"

Master Fu remarked how dangerous doing what they did was. "You could have been tracked back here by Hawkmoth, or even, separated her mind and body from each other."

Otto looked down at his meal sadly. "I just wanted to help. People need to be reminded to make time for fun. If all you do is work or study, then you never give yourself time to relax."

Master Fu understood what he meant. "Your heart was in the right place, but your timing was not desirable. I'm very concerned after today's Akuma. It was caused not only a desire to have fun. Another factor was the impatience of the boy and how he reacted to his friends' responses."

Otto volunteered to go and try to fix the mess as soon as it was midnight. The Great Guardian gave his consent but warned the kwami not to be soon at all.

Later that night Otto slipped into Max's bedroom and found the videogame the boy had invented. Taking a sticky note he applied it to the game console before heading to another classmate's home.

When everyone work up the next morning, they all found sticky notes attached to items that they used to have fun with. The sticky notes all had the same message. "While your young don't forget to plan some fun with your friends. Doing activities together helps friendships grow stronger."

Hopefully, the notes would help the class planning activities together and further mend the bonds of friendship.

* * *

Two days later Lila was ready to move to the next step of her plan. When she had dismantled that silly Markov robot, she had made sure to severely damage a part that only Treasures Incorporated had access to.

It had not been easy at all for her to access the chip and install a worm into it. She was no computer expert so she had to borrow some books and equipment from the tech service for the company.

When she saw Max bring in his repaired pet robot and show it to Kim she knew it was time to test if the worm was working properly. She just had to wait until the perfect time to use it.

Kagami was still keeping a close eye on her so she couldn't slip out her phone and use it in class. Also worrisome was that Ondine, Aurora, and Mireille acted as Kagami's eyes and ears when the girl went home for lunch or if Lila went to the bathroom.

Ms. Mendievel also kept a close eye on her during classes. If that wasn't malicious enough, the teacher always paired Lila with either Wayheim, Marc, or Jean to make sure she was contributing to the project.

At home, she didn't have much privacy anymore as she was constantly watched or checked on to make sure she was sticking to the terms of her punishment.

Which meant she only had a small window of opportunity at school to carry out her plan. When it came time for the class to go to Ms. Bustier's room for language and literature class, Lila reached into her pocket where her phone was and tapped a small app.

In the boy's locker room, Markov blue eyes flashed green. Using his little hook, he reached through the vents and opened the locker. With the door opened he used his little helicopter blades to fly out.

He hovered in the air waiting for his next instructions. He didn't have to wait long.

Before Lila entered Ms. Bustier's class, she made sure the contents of her backpack spilled near the door. As she bent down to pick them up, she tapped the app on her phone a second time, sending the instruction to the little robot.

Once he received his instructions, he headed to the supply closet and opened the door. He found a can of all-purpose cleaner and took it over to the lockers. He found Nino's locker with ease.

The lockers were made out of aluminum and needed a stainless steel cleaning product to shine. By using the wrong cleaner the lockers would be heavily damaged based on the amount of cleaner used.

Using his claw arm, Markov sprayed layer after layer of the cleaning product on Nino's locker. With each new layer, the aluminum got damaged as the metal started to be eaten away. The color started to change as well.

Within in fifteen minutes, the locker had caved in slightly, the color was ruined, and small bits of metal had fallen to the floor. After confirming the damage, Markov went back to the supply closest and returned the cleaning product.

He grabbed a screwdriver from a shelf and headed towards Adrien's locker this time. Since a hammer or wrench would make too much noise and alert the janitor something was going on, he used the screwdriver to repetitively to create scratch marks all over the locker.

Another fifteen minutes later and the locker was damaged beyond repair. The screwdriver had even poked a few holes in the metal. Once again Markov returned the item and then proceeded to Max's locker.

After shutting himself in, Markov's green eyes went back to blue and he shut down. With the use of the worm, Lila would be able to wipe his memory clean of the damage he had done.

The damage wouldn't be discovered until the end of the school day. The boys had gone to gather their stuff so they go home. As they entered the locker room they found a crowd blocking their way in.

"Hey, dudes, what is with the holdup?" Nino asked as he struggled to move forward in the crowd.

Kim turned to Nino and had a grim look on his face. "I don't think you want to see. Someone went to get Mr. Damocles and you need to prepare for a lot of questions when he gets here."

Both Nino and Adrien gave the boy a confused glance but were quickly pushed to the side as Mr. Damocles entered the locker room followed by the single school security guard. "What in the world? WHO HAS BEEN VANDALIZING SCHOOL PROPERTY!" the headmaster thundered at the boys.

With the crowd parted Nino and Adrien finally saw the damage done to their lockers. They blinked several times to make sure what they were seeing was correct.

"Who trashed my locker?" Nino exclaimed.

Mr. Damocles swung his head towards Nino. "Are you admitting you did this Mr. Lafiell?"

Nino raised his hands in protest. "Dude, I mean sir, I would never vandalize anything, especially not my locker." He starred at the damage wondering what had caused the metal to cave in partially.

Nino then waved his hand towards Adrien who looking at his locker in disbelief. "Do you think Adrien would destroy his own locker?"

Everyone knew the answer to that question. In no way or form would Adrien risk being pulled out of public school by destroying property. It was preposterous to even ponder the thought.

"Very well, Mr. Lahiffe. I believe neither of you boys did this," the headmaster told them. He then looked at the rest of the boys assembled and raised his voice so he could be heard by everyone.

"I will be launching an investigation into this vandalism. If you are responsible speak now because if you don't, I will have no choice except to suspend the perpetrator and speak to his parents."

No one spoke up taking credit for the vandalism. The headmaster dismissed them as he asked the security guard to get the janitorial staff here to see if they could fix the lockers.

* * *

At Master Fu's place, he was teaching Ning a new skill. He held out a pendulum with an orange crystal encased in a silver lattice on a chain. Ning recognized the item by the description Peridot Turtle had given her.

"The sorrow breaker, able to sever a bond between the wielder and kwami making them unable to use a Miraculous." She took the pendulum in her hand and looked it over. "Have you ever used it?"

Fu shook his head. "I have not. I was trained in using it, but there has never been a need to use it until now. When we finally find Hawkmoth and take back the Butterfly Miraculous, we'll need to use it so Nooroo is completely freed from his control.

I thought we could practice using it today. We won't be severing any bonds. I will only be teaching you how to use it. You need to build up the right momentum for the sorrow breaker to release its powers."

Fu demonstrated how you increased the swing and then crisscrossed it in the air before it touched the Miraculous which then severed the bond. "It is a very useful tool to have around. We cannot allow evil wielders to continue misusing their Miraculouses to harm people."

Ning stared at the sorrow breaker. It was a useful tool for stopping evil Miraculous wielders. Still, wasn't there a way to prevent a bad person from getting a Miraculous in the first place?

"Dad, is there any way to ensure a Miraculous won't be misused?"

Fu explained that each Great Guardian was responsible for choosing the best wielder for each Miraculous. "As you know, the Peacock and Butterfly were lost when the temple was attacked. If they hadn't been lost then Hawkmoth and Mayura would never have happened."

Ning shook her head. "That's not what I meant. Is there any way to prevent an individual from using _any_ Miraculous?"

Fu thought back to his youth trying to recall if his own master had mentioned anything like that. "I don't believe there is anything. There may have once been, but too much time has passed. If there is a way, it might be in the Miraculous Book. There are still many pages which need to be decoded."

If there is, I'm going to look until I find it. Knowing there is someone else out there waiting to find and misuse Nooroo's powers further is not a future I intend to let happen.

Don't worry Nooroo, I will help find and save you before you are abused by someone else.


	6. Trust

**Hope you like my original idea for the monkey miraculous in this chapter.**

* * *

Whenever she was in Paris, Ning wondered if the City of Lights should switch its nickname with New York City. After all, how can anyone sleep when there are late-night Akuma attacks?

Ning dragged herself out of bed and yawned loudly as she went into the kitchen to have breakfast. She stretched her arms out to get rid of the stiffness. "Please, tell me you have some orange juice. It took me two hours to fall back asleep after the attack by Late-Shift last night."

Fu passed her the container of orange juice and the biggest cup he had. "Here, this should help you wake up. I do often wonder if Hawkmoth ever sleeps when he does one of the late-night attacks."

Honorra huffed a little as she picked at her rice ball. "Well, he should. If not for himself then poor Nooroo. Kwamiis need to sleep just like everyone else if we're to be at our best!"

The other Kwamiis agreed. They all looked tired and under the weather. Fu would have bet good money the teenage heroes themselves were also extremely tired. He imagined they weren't very happy.

Ning made herself some toast and sat back down at the table. "So what do we have planned for today? Another lesson, perhaps searching to see if you have a feather in your vast collection of supplies, or do you have clients today?"

Fu told her he had several clients today and that he would need her to go run errands for him, including paying some bills. She groaned at hearing this because it was something she really didn't want to do.

So after doing a few morning stretches, Ning was out walking through the city in her disguise with all the Kwamiis stuffed into her purse as she headed out to pay the water and electric bill.

As she walked down the streets she ignored people staring at her. "Why are they even staring? Lots of people get injuries that require a sling."

"Not many people are staring. It must feel different to you because your use to being in the background concealed," Wayzz informed her after peeking out a looking around.

Ning thought he might be right. She wasn't used to people paying close attention to her unless it was part of a mission. Being out in public exposed to a majority of people didn't make her feel comfortable.

"Perhaps we can make you more comfortable. Would you like to hear some stories about our past wielders?" Twiggy asked.

Ning paused in midstride. It would be nice to hear about previous wielders and the stories might contain clues about how to prevent certain people from ever being able to use any Miraculous.

Reaching into the purse, she pulled out a pair of headphones and put them on. She then hooked them up with her mini communicator so she could hear the Kwamiis talking and it would appear she was listening to an audiobook to the public.

* * *

There was a bit of squabbling to decide who got to speak first. After a few minutes, they settled on Spinney to tell a story.

"One of my first wielders was a young man who called himself Nhim. He was trying to establish a friendship between two villages so that the clashes between them would stop happening.

My wielder knew that the two villages could prosper better if they worked together. He seemed to be the only one who thought this. The leader of his village was angry at the other's village leader because he had a larger home and more servants then he did."

Ning rolled her eyes. What a stupid reason to be mad at someone. She listened as Spinney continued telling her how more petty slights built up to have another clash between the villages.

"Nhim knew if the clashes continued both villages would be destroyed. So he decided to bring the leaders together and help them learn to trust one another. Transformed, he brought both leaders to neutral grounds.

Nhim then preceded to tie them together and drop them in the middle of the jungle. He told them if they made it back to the neutral area by the end of the day, he would release them. If not, he would leave them in the jungle and not take them back home.

Both argued back and forth shouting how this kidnapping was the other one's fault. It went on for an hour before my wielder silenced them by puffing up and shaking his quills as he dropped down before them

He told them that they had been wasting an hour on arguing instead of learning to trust one another to get home. Nhim asked how they expected their villages to prosper if they spent so much time thinking of ways to slight each other.

Eventually, my wielder managed to get through their stubborn minds and they worked together to get out of their mess. When Nhim saw them being friendly with one another he pointed out how the simple act of trust helped them get further than nagging on one another.

From that day on the two villages worked together and their villages become a real town and then a city. I don't know if it's still there in Vietnam, but I hope it is. Did you like my story?" Spinney asked kindly.

"It was a simple yet wonderful story. Thank you for sharing Spinney."

* * *

It was going to be another late night for Ladybug and Chat Noir. Instead of going on patrol they decided that tonight they would ask their temporary heroes to join them on patrol so they could practice teamwork.

"I don't know Bugaboo, do you think they're ready for this?" Chat Noir asked as they surveyed the three temporary heroes. Kkachi wasn't here because of the danger to Honorra's health if she used up the safe number of times she could transform someone. Each of them was exhibiting different behavior after being brought their Miraculous for aid.

Rene Rouge was dancing on her tiptoes excitedly. She kept glancing around trying to find the perfect spot to be seen by a security camera no doubt.

Carapace was much calmer. His attention was on Ladybug and Chat Noir, waiting for them to explain what they would be doing.

Honey Bee was understandably very anxious. She wanted to make a good impression and do her best to show how serious she was taking this.

Ladybug looked them over one by one before replying to her partner. "Kitty, we can't have a repeat of what happened on Heroes Day. They _need_ to be ready for anything."

She walked over to the group and cleared her throat. "I'm glad you could join us tonight. As you know, each one of you has shown your worthy, to wield a temporary Miraculous in battle. You three have been very helpful."

The temporary heroes smiled upon hearing their praise. Yet, they remained alert for what they suspected would be some helpful criticism.

"That being said, there are several areas in which you can improve in to make you more effective during a battle. As you know, Chat Noir and I, have defensive powers to protect us during battle. You also have defensive powers.

Just like your offensive power, the defense one can only be used once in a battle. You can use it for ten minutes. It won't start your countdown."

The temps began whispering to each other eagerly. Chat Noir coughed to get their attention. "There is a _catch_ to using your defensive power. Your Kwamiis won't be providing the energy to power the move, _you_ will."

Honey Bee, Carapace, and Rene Rouge blinked their eyes upon hearing this. They listened closely as Chat Noir went into a further explanation about the defensive powers.

That it would drain them quickly and make them significantly weaker until they built up enough stamina to keep it going and have enough time left to flee or fight. That their Kwamiis would still need to eat something after the returned to normal, but not as much as if they used their offensive powers.

They also learned they could use both offensive and defensive during a fight, but they needed to get stronger physically before they could use them together in one fight.

"Which is why we're here practicing tonight. It will take a few weeks until you master this technique. Don't push yourself to go beyond your limit! If you do, you become a liability when fighting Akumas. Understand?"

The three of them nodded they were ready to try. Chat Noir asked Carapace to follow him to the next rooftop to give Honey Been and Rene Rouge enough space to practice their moves.

Once they reached the next rooftop, Carapace looked directly at Chat Noir. "So dude, what's my defensive power? Personally, Shell Guard feels like a defensive power, not an offensive one."

The superhero placed his hands on Carapace's shoulders as he assured him Shell Guard was a good offensive power. "You can protect both civilians and your fellow heroes from harm. You can even contain an enemy so Ladybug can cleanse them. That's a great power."

Turtle boy thought it over and realized the cat was right. So he listened closely as the black cat taught him about his defensive power, Hibernation.

"As the name suggests, Hibernation puts your whole body into a short-term hibernation state. Your body shuts down non-essential systems so you can be protected from extreme weather and temperature conditions."

"Dude, how does that help in a fight? I would just be lying around and be vulnerable to attack!"

Chat Noir reminded him how helpful it would be if they fought Stormy Weather again or another elemental based Akuma was attacking. Also, even if he was out for a short time, he would wake up fully refreshed.

Carapace had to acknowledge that would be useful in a drawn out fight. He paid very close attention as he was taught the pattern to activate the defensive ability using his Miraculous.

He had to touch the head, left back leg, right front, and then left front, followed by right back and tapping the turtle head twice as he called out Hibernation. It would take practice until he developed the muscle memory to activate the power without looking.

Carapace slowly went through the activation pattern, being careful to do it right. He shouted out, "Hibernation!" Instantly the boy felt too warm and his knees gave out. He swayed for about five seconds before his body fully embraced the rooftop.

Chat Noir winced at the sight of his best friend passed out. "Not the best for a first try. I hope My Lady is doing better with the girls." He scratched the back of his head, took a glance at his girlfriend, before going over to check on the unconscious turtle.

On Ladybug's rooftop, she was trying to remain calm. As usual, Alya/Rene Rouge was being reckless by trying to act her defensive power without listening to the steps of what she needed to do.

"So, let me try. The words are False Trail? Okay, False T…" Honey Bee slapped her hand over the fox girl's mouth.

"Perhaps you should wait until we get all the details?" Honey Bee suggested kindly.

Ladybug dipped her head in agreement with Honey Bee. She reminded Rene Rouge that if she kept diving headfirst, she was going to strike her head against a rock sooner than later.

"Rene Rouge, knowing the words are not enough. You need to take this slow and steady. Your powers revolve around illusions and this is no exception."

Rene Rouge listened as Ladybug explained that the fox's offensive power was based on the heart and its desire to grow. The special ability to create significant illusions was based on the mind of the wielder. Defense was based on giving substance to an illusion using the body as a guide.

"You are creating an exact double of yourself. To make this work you have to pay attention to detail and concentrate very hard so that when your double leads your attacker away you can flee to safety."

Rene Rouge grinned playfully. "That sounds easy. I'm used to making illusions of myself for a distraction."

"Rene Rouge, this is different. To give your illusion substance, you need to understand how your own body is put together. False Trail will only work if you truly believe that your double is real."

I know I can do that! Come on Alya, show Ladybug why you're still worthy to be the fox heroine. Bringing the flute to her lips, Rene Rouge played the notes she had been shown earlier.

Holding the image of herself in a mirror she shouted "False Trail!" She twirled the instrument then held out as far as she could stretch. There was a puff of orange smoke.

As it cleared, Rene Rouge had a hopeful look on her face. She was certain she had done this right. A second later she slapped herself on the head. "Are you kidding me?"

Her clone was half formed. There was no head only the chest and right arm. The legs started at the knees and ended with feet that had no toes. The clone wasn't even wearing clothes!

Ladybug assured the fox heroine it was a good first try. She had managed to form bits of a clone.

Next up was Honey Bee who was playing with her trompo. She was looking a tiny bit frightened. "This won't hurt anybody when I use it right?" she asked Ladybug.

"You will be encasing an enemy to give yourself a chance to escape. Only you can decide if it is harmful or not."

Honey Bee listened closely as the other insect heroine showed her hold to hold her top and that she had to twist it once to the right then left before she lunged forward and stung her target. "The tip of the top _must_ make contact with the skin to use it. The stinger can penetrate through clothing up to an inch.

When you know the stinger is in you need to say Honeycomb and retract the top quickly. As soon as it's removed a honeycomb will start to form around the enemy. That's your signal to get out of there."

Honey Bee looked unsure about this. She knew this power would help protect herself and others. At the same time, she didn't like hurting people if she could avoid it.

A practice dummy had been set up for her to use. Gripping her top tightly, she twisted it right then left before lunging at the dummy with her eyes closes. She didn't know if her attack had landed on the dummy as she cried out, "Honeycomb!"

Opening her eyes, she realized she had missed the dummy and nearly stung Ladybug, who was using her own defensive power, to keep from being hit. "Sorry Ladybug, I didn't mean to almost sting you."

"Try keeping your eyes open next time," Ladybug suggested. She suppressed a groan of frustration. The trio would need a lot more practice before they got close to doing this right.

* * *

Two days passed and Adrien was at home video chatting with Wayhem. "It's nice to talk to someone. I wish I was with the rest of the class doing our community project. Marinette and Alya planned to plant new trees to help fight against climate change."

Wayhem whistled he was impressed. "That's a big project. Aurora and Mireille decide our class's community project would be about helping the homeless in Paris.

They got in touch with Global Village and were set to build a medium size shelter next weekend. It's going to be hard work and two whole days to complete, but it will be worth it to help people. You can come and help if you want."

That did sound like fun, but Adrien knew what his father's response would be. "My father would forbid it. I'm not allowed to leave the house unless it's for school, fencing, or work until he gets back from his trip."

Wayhem conceded that trying to go against Gabriel Agreste's wishes would be similar to asking the sun and moon to switch places. It wasn't going to happen. "Are you allowed, visitors? I could come over and we could hang out."

Adrien shook his head again. He wasn't allowed any visitors, not even his girlfriend Marinette could come over. His father wanted Adrien to focus on the activities he was assigned and prepare himself for taking control of the company when he became of age.

Not that Adrien wanted to take over the company. His father was the designer and businessman in the family. Adrien wanted to focus more on physics and what he could do with a degree in it.

Returning his focus to the video chat Adrien assured Wayhem he would find a way to schedule some time together soon. "I need a chance to unwind and get to know more people besides my classmates."

"I would like that too. I'll talk to you later. Have a pleasant day." Wayhem logged out leaving Adrien alone once more in his room, except for Plagg.

The kwami was wiping cheese crumbs off his chin. "We could go and help your princess with the project. It's not like the Gorilla is going to be looking out the windows to see if you're escaping."

Adrien shook his head and pointed out that once his father was dropped off Nathalie would check on him in person. He didn't want to get her or the Gorilla in trouble.

"I might as well get ahead on my homework. We don't know when Hawkmoth will strike next or if we'll be facing Mayura in person again."

Adrien didn't know, but his father hadn't left the country. He needed some time out the public eye to work on his quest to obtaining the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculouses.

He had instructed Nathalie to make it look like he left the country and then return home. Mr. Thatcher, the man he was paying to translate his (fake) copy of the Miraculous Book had called a few days ago, saying he was close to finding a cipher key to make the pages readable.

While he was waiting for the cipher key and the start of some translated pages, he was in the underground lair visiting his wife with Nooroo. "Don't worry Emilie, with Nathalie's help, you'll awaken soon I promise." He ran his hand against the glass coffin wishing he could touch her.

Nooroo had observed his master do this frequently and could feel his wielder's emotional state being torn between overwhelming love and anger beyond belief.

"Master, why did you lie about going away and forbid your son from helping his friends out? It would have made him happy."

"Precisely Nooroo. Making Adrien untouchable means his friends will start to feel strong negative emotions I can use to create an akuma with powers never before seen."

Of course, the kwami wasn't happy about hearing this, but there was nothing he could do. His wielder was still fuming over the fact that Peace Keeper had somehow managed to get into Gamer 2.0 videogame somehow.

The butterfly was extremely tired of repeating himself to his wielder that Hawkmoth had all the powers associated with the Miraculous, while Peace Keeper only had gained an upgrade, mental shields in her mind, and that she would always win in a telepathic empathy battle. Not to mention his Kwami Charm gave her a tenth of his power.

"Are we going to spend a week down here just so you can wait for an opportunity to akumatized one of Adrien's friends?" Nooroo looked very petulant at the thought.

Gabriel sighed and declined to respond to his kwami's question. There was another reason he had come down this lair. He was installing a third backup generator to keep his wife safe.

Her coffin was a mini clean room. Emilie's magical coma kept her alive. That being said, she was very susceptible to disease because of how her body was using every last bit of energy to keep her alive.

These generators provided the power to keep the coffin germ free. Since the only other person who knew about this place was Nathalie, it was up to him to install it.

He went over to the elevator and wheeled out the dolly carrying the generator. Nooroo fluttered over and called on his flitter to help out by lifting the dolly an inch off the floor.

As he started to the process of connecting the generator, the power to the room started to fluctuate. There was a loud pounding sound going on as the elevator tube started to vibrate. The track that carried the elevator horizontally before going vertical was wobbling badly.

"What is happening?" Gabriel demanded to know. He glanced at Emile making sure she was okay. There was a spark and the first generator went out. He hadn't hooked up the third one yet!

If the primary power source along with the second generator went out, Emile's life was in danger! He needed to do something now! "Nooroo, Darkwings Rise!"

Hawkmoth started searching for emotions to use when Nooroo's voice rang loud and clear in the back of his mind. "_Master listen! Your offensive power will not be helpful right now! Use your defensive one to protect your wife." _

Hawkmoth clutched his cane tightly. He pointed it at Emilie and shouted, "Chrysalis!" There was a wisp of purple coming out of the cane tip and then it vanished. "NO!"

_"__MASTER! If you don't calm down then the power won't work. I know it's difficult, but you have to push away your anger and fear. Focus on the love you have for your wife and imagine wrapping her up in a protective blanket." _

Calming down, Hawkmoth did as Nooroo instructed. This time a steady stream of purple smoke. It wove its way around the coffin becoming thin silk strands. Eventually, it came all together becoming a full blown Chrysalis.

His wife was safe for now. What he needed to do now was create an Akuma so he could put an end to whatever was going on in his house that was causing the power drain.

In Adrien's room, a massive party was taking place. Both male teenagers and adults were dancing or talking with one another as music blared from the stereo system. Food and drinks were being passed around as someone shot confetti into the air.

Adrien had been shocked when the boys of his class had shown up to throw him a party instead of working on the community project with the girls. Apparently, they had bribed the Gorilla with rare action figures to let them inside and throw this party.

"I can't believe how much fun everyone is having!" the blond shouted over the music.

"Why wouldn't they? This time the party isn't being thrown by an akumatized me! Here, have some soda. You'll love it," Nino promised as he gave Adrien an orange flavored soda.

Outside the mansion, Wayhem pressed the call button on the gate once more. A few of the party guests were live-streaming the party and Wayhem had seen this as a chance to hang out with Adrien.

The only problem was no one was monitoring the gate anymore and without someone opening the gate it was impossible to get in.

"I don't understand. Why is everyone invited in except for me? Does Adrien not consider me as important as his other friends?" He started walking away slowly, carrying a box of humorous props, he was going to show Adrien.

He didn't notice a small purple butterfly merge with a silly pair of glasses with a mustache attached.

"Party Crasher, I am Hawkmoth. I can feel your sadness and anger at not being allowed to go to Adrien's party. I can give you the power to ensure no one else can enjoy the party. All I ask is you retrieve for me is Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."

Wayhem slipped the akumatized prop onto his face. "Consider it done Hawkmoth." The purple smoke covered his body and he slowly transformed into Party Crasher.

When he reappeared he looked very different. He was wearing a stereotypical 70's disco dancer's outfit, along with an unbuttoned disco ball patterned shoulder pad jacket and matching pants. Underneath the jacket was a black V-necked dress shirt with a popped collar and a smaller silver disco ball pendant necklace.

There was also a pair of sunglasses of the same style as the jacket and pants. Each hand ended in a disco ball-shaped gauntlet. The last change was he had blue skin and pink hair styled into an afro with a pink mustache.

"Time to crash the party!" he shouted. He ran towards the gate and leaped over it. He blasted the doors with a sparkling beam of light. The doors disappeared into one of the tiny mirrors of the disco ball gauntlets.

Seeing the Akuma, Gorilla got up to defend the house from Party Crasher. Party Crasher laughed at him. "Time for you to leave the party!" The beam of light struck the huge man and sucked him into another mirror.

"Now let's see about getting the other guests out of here." Smirking, the Akuma ascended the stairs towards the loud party.

* * *

Across town, Master Fu was using acupuncture to treat Ning's arm. While the injury was healing, she still felt a dull pain throughout the day. He felt that with a session he could diminish it completely.

Fu had just finished inserting the last of the eight needles in Ning's arm. He gently tapped the needles, letting her _de-qi_ spread to the specific areas of pain. "Remember to lie still for fifteen minutes. Your arm needs time to distribute the _de-qi_ throughout your body."

The young woman nodded as she closed her eyes. While modern doctors scorned acupuncture as a pseudoscience that only created a placebo effect, she belied it really did work.

About five minutes into the session, Plagg's Kwami Charm started blinking. In her mind, she heard the cat kwami calling for backup saying the new Akuma could predict people's moves so he could capture them easily.

Ning relayed the message to Master Fu. "They need help and I can't move for another ten minutes. Nino needs Wayzz, but I think you'll need one more Miraculous if you're going to beat an Akuma who can predict your movements."

"Agreed. I know which Miraculous is the best option to use in this situation, but who do I give it too once I'm there?"

Ning thought about for a second. "Take Spinney with you. He's the kwami of trust. He'll know who the right wielder is, won't you Spinney?" She looked up at the porcupine kwami who nodded.

Since he needed to get to the Agreste Mansion, Master Fu had to resort to a method affectionately known as the shortcut. A fully trained Guardian could use magical energy inside them to create a portal to where they needed to go.

It was a useful method for delivering Miraculous and getting around quickly, but it was also a very draining technique. Because of his age, Master Fu only used this ability if he absolutely had no other choice.

Focusing his energy he pictured his destination in his mind. Holding out his dominant hand with his palm up, he chanted the words to the spell he needed to use. A white portal appeared in front of him and through it, he could see the Agreste Mansion.

Stepping through the portal, he emerged just outside the mansion hidden behind a car as he watched Party Crasher capture Ladybug in his gauntlet. "Not good not good at all."

He slipped off his Miraculous and handed it to Wayzz. "Go find young Nino and hurry." The turtle kwami nodded as he hurried away.

Fu turned back to Spinney, who had his eyes closed as he searched for a wielder for the other Miraculous they brought. They had to be trustworthy, friendly, and athletically fit.

He opened his eyes and pointed towards the window in Adrien's room. "There! There's a friend of Adrien's whose been swimming in his gigantic bathtub and hasn't noticed the chaos. He's perfect for Xuppo and will certainly give the Miraculous back once he's done with it."

Inside Adrien's bathroom, Kim was still swimming underwater swimming against the current of the bathtub jets. He sensed someone was looking down at him. He caught a glimpse of red and black. Surfacing, he found a note next to a box.

"What the? Who left this? Hey, what happened to the party?" Stepping out of the tub he went into the main room and he realized he could hear sounds of fighting. Peeking out the window he saw Chat Noir and Carapace struggling against Party Crasher.

"Oh man, how did I not know there was an Akuma attack going on?" Kim tried to slap his forehead only to be reminded of the note and the box in his hand. He quickly unfurled the note.

"Ladybug's been captured by the Akuma and I don't think I can stop him myself. I trust you to lend a hand and tail to defeat this Akuma. Chat Noir." Putting the note down, he opened the box and there was a flash of tan and yellow light. When it faded a tiny monkey like creature was floating in the air.

Xuppo opened his eyes. Upon seeing Kim he let out a howling cheer. "So you're my new wielder? I bet you're a great athlete. You must have just finished swimming," the kwami said while pointing to Kim's speedo.

Kim opened his mouth to ask a question, but Xuppo beat him to it. "Right now, I don't have the time to share the whole game plan. What you need to know is I'm Xuppo the kwami of athleticism. You put on my Miraculous and say the magic words and you get to be a superhero and help save the day. Just remember, when you use your power, Fighting Spirit, you will change back in five minutes."

Kim quickly put on the circlet and listened as Xuppo told him the magic words. "Xuppo, Right Swing!" A rush of power flowed through Kim's body as he felt the magic change him into a superhero.

Once transformed, he quickly looked into a mirror to see his costume. He was wearing a gold and dark brown mask that covered most of his head, except for his eyes, mouth and nose, ears, and hair.

The Miraculous had changed shape. Now it had five black squares on the back. His hair become one spike on the top of his head, resembling a fire as his hair and it was reddish-orange now.

His costume reminded him of a tracksuit. The top part was a light brown and at the center covering his stomach and pectorals is a light tan. A golden zipper rests at the base of the top, just underneath the collar of the suit.

There were black shoulder pads that extend down to his upper arms with golden borders and gloves that were golden at his fingers, dark brown at his wrist, and light brown and tan at the cuffs.

A golden belt with a dark brown buckle and brown spots on either side of was wrapped around his waist that had a rope-like prehensile tail attached to the back.

The bottom portion of the suit was light brown except for the area near his calves which instead were a dark brown section with gold border. He shoes were similar to his gloves. In his hand, he was holding the Gouda, the weapon of the Hindu God Hanuman.

Leaping into the window he saw Party Crasher zap both Chat Noir and Carapace into his disco gauntlets. He had to stop Party Crasher from sending the Miraculouses to Hawkmoth!

He leaped out of the window and landed safely on the ground. He hooted annoyingly drawing Party Crasher's attention towards him. The Akuma was very displeased. "Aren't you a little old for costume parties?"

"I'm not too old for costume parties, but you must be ancient if you think disco can be revived." The hero laughed loudly as the Akuma fired his beam at him.

The new hero just flipped over the beam and laughed more. "You know, your name is lame. Party Crasher? Sounds like you belong in one of those American fraternities I've heard about.

Oh, by the way, my name is King Monkey and I suggest you give those disco balls to me if you don't want me breaking you in half."

Party Crasher ignored Hawkmoth shouting at him to send the Miraculous. The akumatized boy ran at King Monkey shooting beams at him. As he ran, he used his power to predict moves to figure out where to drive King Monkey so he was trapped before he was zapped.

King Monkey held out his Gouda and swung it like a cricket bat and swung it low. The sweeping motion sent tiny bits of dirt and pebbles rolling towards Party Crasher, who stepped on one and lost his balance for a few seconds.

King Monkey used his weapon to launch himself into the air. Flipping through the air he adjusted his grip and used his weapon like a racket struck the Akuma on the back.

Beams were sent flying his way and he maneuvered himself expertly around, using his great athleticism to make sure his steps were unpredictable. Seeing an opening, he aimed the weapon at the two disco ball hands. "Fighting Spirit!"

His weapon glowed reddish-orange and out of the end came an outline of King Monkey filled with energy. It struck the target shattering the mini mirrors and releasing everyone who had been a prisoner.

With Ladybug and Chat Noir back in action, it didn't take long for Party Crasher to be defeated. Kim returned the Miraculous thanking Chat Noir for trusting him with something so valuable. Lucky for him, the black cat had spotted Master Fu and was able to play it cool.

* * *

The next day the class gathered together on Juleka's houseboat. The girls were furious about the boys breaking their promise about the community project and that they had decided to throw a boys only party.

The boys were slightly terrified of the girls as they did their best to avoid eye contact. Seeing as Adrien was the only boy they were not mad at, he was designated speaker on behalf of the boys.

"Look, girls, they're sorry about yesterday. They were just trying to make me happy."

The girls continued to glare and the boys started cowering. Seeing this Adrien tried again. "I know what they did yesterday wasn't fair to all of you and their truly sorry. They'll help plant more trees next weekend."

"That's not the point Adrien. Even if you were not allowed to come help, the rest of the boys made a promise to help with the community project. Instead of honoring their commitments, they decided to throw you a party," Alix stated in an angry tone.

"When you make a promise you keep it no matter what!" Rose chimed in. Juleka nodded in agreement.

"When all of you didn't show up, we were really worried. We thought you might be hurt or sick," Mylene pointed out.

"You wouldn't even answer your phones and I called them a dozen times," Chloe remarked clearly upset with them.

It was the first time Sabrina and she had actually involved themselves with a class project and it was a very big disappointment that the boys hadn't seen her doing a good deed.

"Do you know how hard it is to plant trees when you don't have the same upper body strength as you guys do?" Sabrina asked. "We only got half the trees planted because it took two or three of us to lift the trees off the cart and carry them to their new homes."

Alya added how were they supposed to trust the boys now? They had broken a serious promise and made sure the girls wouldn't know about it. That wasn't what friends did to each other.

Seeing the girls were ready to leap off the sofa and start digging their nails into the boys, Marinette got up and did her best to block the girls from seeing the boys. "What we're all trying to say is that we are extremely hurt that all of you broke your promise and betrayed our trust."

Looking directly at Adrien, she continued. "Adrien, we can't blame you for the actions of other people. One of the problems is that _you _went along with the boys' plan. I know how you craved to have a party to have fun with your friends. That doesn't excuse you from not calling us and telling the truth about where the boys were. Do you understand?"

Adrien nodded his head as the rest of the boys now had sheepish expressions on their faces. It was finally getting through them how much they had broken the girls' trust.

Adrien asked how the guys could make it up to the girls. There were a few minutes of whispering between them and then Marinette told them the boys would have to earn their trust back after they finished planting the other half of the trees.

* * *

At Alya's next therapist appointment she told her therapist, Dr. Bobbi Vaugh about what happened with the boys. "I can't believe them, shirking off their duties. Not to mention how Nino let me down like that?"

Dr. Vaugh studied her patient in the chair across from her. Since her first appointment, Alya had been very vocal about people who wronged her. "What the boys did was a serious breach of trust. It is never fair when someone breaks your trust. Did their actions remind you of Lila's actions towards you?"

Alya nodded then shook her head. She then shrugged her shoulders confused about her feelings. "Sort of? I mean Nino broke his promise to me about helping out with the project I cosponsored. I do get why he didn't even if I don't approve of when he did.

He's also apologized and is working towards earning my trust again. I'm still angry with him, but not as angry as I was with Lila. I don't know why though."

"Probably because you've done the same thing before to him. You also know, what he did wasn't intentionally done to hurt you. Do you feel offended because Nino put his best friend first instead of you?"

Alya nodded. It did feel lately Nino, Marinette, and Adrien were putting other things first before her. She was upset about that, but was it wrong for them to place their obligations above her?

Dr. Vaugh listened to Alya and helped walk her through the process of understanding that if her friends had other responsibilities that were required for them, it wasn't wrong for them to put those first and her second.

"Putting yourself first all the time is not healthy Alya. While it is imperative for you to put yourself first, your friends have the same onus to putting themselves first. Friendship is a give and take."

Alya admitted she had difficulty with that part of friendship and didn't always recognize when she was supposed to give or when to take. Her therapist promised they would work on learning the differences as their sessions went on.

When Alya arrived home after her session, she wanted to finish updating the security on her blog. After removing the false interview featuring Lila, she wanted to ensure the integrity of the website.

She was working on upgrading her administrator privileges when her phone chimed that she had a message. She opened the message and gasped. There was a picture of herself in a provocative outfit with a speech bubble offering to sleep with people in exchange for interviews.

A second later her phone rang and it was Nino. "Yo Alya! Did you just send me this weird photo of you?"

Alya shook her head feeling her face heating up. "NO! I didn't, I wouldn't do something like that. Please, delete it before someone else sees it. You don't think everyone in the class got that photo do you?"

"If they did you would be bombarded by calls now. Remember the damage to my locker at school? I think the same person is targeting you to make certain no one ever takes you seriously again. This is serious, you should tell your parents."

"I will, but I swear whoever is threatening me will be sorry they messed with me."

* * *

Early the next morning, Lila was on her computer as she got ready to implement her first strike against Marinette. Consulting the manual once more she was figuring out how to make Markov spoof Marinette's phone to make it look like that pesky bluenette was the one who not only created that nasty photo Alya but also distributed them.

"You brought this on yourself Marinette. If you had just minded your own business and given up Adrien this wouldn't be happening," Lila snickered to herself.

"Alright, if I reverse the steps that protect the chip from being spoofed, then I should be able to get that stupid toy to do what I want." She clicked away on the keyboard before growling in frustration. "Ugh, why is this so hard? Why couldn't someone make this stuff easier to do?"

Lila stiffened when she heard the sounds of her parents starting to stir in their bedroom. She held her breath hoping they wouldn't get up. After a few seconds, they stopped stirring.

Relieved, Lila continued to work on her little project. It was slow going, but she finally felt she had done it right. She clicked send and laughed snootily. This was going to very entertaining.

* * *

About three hours later it was almost time for school to start. The tension in Ms. Bustier's class had gone down and the boys were being extra nice to the girls.

Ms. Bustier had just stepped in the classroom asking everyone to take their seats when everyone's phones rang at the same time. Curious, they all took out their phones and looked at them.

Alya's face whitened as she saw the horrible picture of her being displayed on her phone. The others were whispering in disbelief and then looking at Marinette, whose eyes were bulging at the number attached to the message.

"Alya, I didn't do this! Look at my phone, please! I didn't have this image until just now!"

Her best friend was trembling. She knew that Marinette would never do such a thing, but at the same time, Lila's betrayal was still fresh in her mind. "Marinette, I want to believe you, but I don't know if I can."

Marinette jerked back, tears in her eyes. Her best friend was starting to doubt her trust again.

Ms. Bustier took Marinette's phone from her and looked at the image. "Marinette, I'm shocked you could do something like this. Go to Mr. Damocles office right now."

"But I didn't…"

"Now!"

Marinette cried as she gathered her stuff and left the classroom. The others watched her slump form as she went to the headmaster's office.

The others didn't know what to think. Adrien knew she hadn't done this but he realized if he said anything everyone would assume he was protecting his girlfriend.

So it was a shock when Nino stood up and exclaimed, "Ms. Bustier, I _know_ Marinette didn't do this!"

"Nino, what are you doing?" Alya hissed at him. There was real fear in her eyes.

"Babe, we can't let Marinette take the blame for something she didn't do. You need to speak up about what happened."

"Do you have something you want to tell us Alya?" Ms. Bustier asked gently.

Taking a deep breath and holding Nino's hands explained about getting the photo yesterday and talking to her parents about it and having the police investigating who sent it from an anonymous number.

"The photo may look real, but it's a real well done Photoshop image. Marinette's understanding of Photoshop is a little less than average. She doesn't have the capability to create this image."

Nino added that if it had been Marinette who had sent the picture in the first place, why hadn't she used the unknown number a second time instead of her own phone?

Max cut in explaining about spoofing. "If someone was trying to get Marinette in trouble and had the computer expertise seen in this photo, then they would know how to do spoofing.

Marinette knows a lot about video gaming but is not an expert in computers like me. She didn't do this."

Ms. Bustier looked at the class and thought about what they said. "Max, Nino, and Alya, please come with me to the headmaster's office. The rest of you start working on your reading assignments. I'll be back as soon as I can."

An hour later Ms. Bustier and the students, save Marinette returned. Everyone was wondering where she was considering that their teacher and classmates had explained the reasons why it couldn't be Marinette.

"Mr. Damocles believes that it was not Marinette who sent those pictures, but standard school protocol is that she is suspended for the rest of the week while an investigation is underway. She will be back next week."

It was bittersweet news. The whole class was wondering who would go so far to frame their everyday Ladybug for such a horrible thing and embarrass Alya at the same time.


	7. Sharing

**Dear readers, the event that Lila triggers in this chapter has happened before in real life, but I'm not sure its done in the way I wrote. I hope it is realistic enough for you.**

* * *

Marinette was sitting on her couch listlessly. Being suspended from school for something she didn't do was the worst. Someone really had it out for her. Probably the same person who had messed with the rest of the class these last few weeks.

"Don't worry, Marinette. I'm sure your parents will be able to talk some sense with Mr. Damocles. Once they get back, you'll be able to attend afternoon classes."

"That's hardly the point Tikki," Marinette retorted. "The only person who hates me this much to go this far is Lila, but how can it be her? She's watched all the time by teachers and students, her supervisor for her community service, and her entire family for the rest of the time.

Also, I'm not sure she even has the expertise to do this. Maybe the photo, but sending it out remotely while spoofing my number? She doesn't seem that smart to pull this off."

Tikki nodded. Lila was not a great liar, her strength in getting people to believe her lies was her charisma and controlling the dialog. Targeting people to hurt them or send them to jail for distribution of sexually suggestive photos, especially an entire class in the manner they had been, would take skills Lila didn't have.

"The worst part Tikki is my parents learned why I was suspended. They know I didn't do it, but that doesn't change the fact they have to convince people I didn't do it. My parents shouldn't have to defend me like."

Marinette hated disappointing her parents. She felt worse when they had to defend her because they shouldn't have to. People should believe in her or let her fight her own battles.

With her parents talking to the principal, the bakery had to be closed, which meant all the fresh bread and pastries would go to waste now. Which meant they would need to make more money to buy the ingredients they used up for today.

Running a business was hard work and the Dupain-Chengs already had more than enough to do. Trying to make up for a day of profit loss would exhaust them and of course, her parents would insist that Marinette not help them, because she hadn't done anything wrong.

The guilt of causing problems for her parents started eating the bluenette up inside. Her guts twisted inside and a giant headache was forming. She squinted at the clock to check the time.

Her parents had been gone for an hour. What was taking them so long to come home? Had they gotten into trouble with Mr. Damocles? Was the school thinking about expelling her because her parents opposed the suspension?

A few minutes later, the Dupain-Chengs came home and found Marinette squeezing a pillow to her chest as she gnashed her teeth together while groaning about her headache.

"Mom, Dad, your home! What was taking so long? Never mind, I am so sorry you had to shut down the bakery because of me! I made you use up ingredients we couldn't spare and you lost money today. Now I've added to an extra workload to make up for today.

I promise I'll help you, even if you don't want me too. After all, this is my fault and I…"

Tom placed his huge hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Marinette, calm down. This isn't your fault. We know you didn't create and send that photo. Defending you is more important than closing the bakery for one day."

Despite the reassurance, tears started to fall from the girl's eyes. "You shouldn't have to defend me. I was the one who got suspended, so I'm the one who should have tried to reason harder with Mr. Damocles."

Sabine hugged her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "You shouldn't have to defend yourself. Your teacher and your friends talked to him themselves explaining why you couldn't have done this.

He shouldn't have suspended you for a week. If he felt he had no choice, he should have made it an in-school suspension. What matters right now is helping to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, you didn't do this and figure out who did."

"I know I didn't do that, but even the implication is enough to tarnish your reputations as well as the bakeries. Who will want to buy bread at the establishment where the owners' daughter was suspended because of suggestive photos?"

Tom and Sabine told their daughter to let them handle this. That the people who knew them best wouldn't believe she had done anything wrong and that their customers wouldn't even know.

The law stated that no one who was not involved in the suspension or investigation had to know the reason behind the suspension. They reminded Marinette once again to take care of herself and that everything would be alright.

Marinette bit her lip hoping that was true. Her future and relationship were on the line if people found out why she was suspended. Even if she was proved innocent this incident would haunt her for the rest of her life.

* * *

Two days later, Adrien was in the middle of his piano practice when Nathalie came in. "Adrien, it's time for you to head over to the Grévin Wax Museum so they can finish putting together your wax statue."

"Um Nathalie, would it be alright if I invited Marinette to come with us. She hasn't been in school for the last two days and I think spending time with me might lift her spirits."

Nathalie narrowed her eyes as she looked over her tablet. "Has Ms. Dupain-Cheng been sick? Your father wouldn't be pleased if you got sick."

Adrien shook his head. "She was suspended for the week." Seeing that Nathalie was about to demand an answer he quickly explained the situation and that he was positive it hadn't been her.

He also mentioned the headmaster didn't think she did it, but he had no choice and that the police had confiscated Marinette's computer to see if she had created it.

Nathalie pursed her lips and said she would have to call his father first to find out if it was okay. She stepped out of the room and into the hall. She knew he was up in his lair, but she couldn't go up there to ask him, not with Adrien in the house.

"Sir, there is a situation I would like to bring to your attention." She explained what was going on in Adrien's relationship and if she should grant his request.

Up in the lair, Hawkmoth listened to what the situation was. "Hmm, that explains the intense anguish I felt coming from Marinette two days ago. Not to mention, it explains Ms. Rossi dark emotions."

He did not doubt that Lila must have created this scenario to make Marinette extremely vulnerable so he would turn the bluenette back into an Akuma. Most likely, to discredit the girl and use it for her twisted agenda.

Even if he hadn't made a vow not to hurt the girl, he would have been hard pressed to use her. Not when she was currently the only female in Adrien's life that could fill the void of love from him missing his mother.

"Tell Adrien, he may invite his girlfriend and two friends to go with him to the museum. Make sure he returns in time for his Chinese lesson."

"Understood sir."

So twenty minutes later, Nino, Alya, along with Marinette and Manon, who she was babysitting today, arrived at the historical wax museum. Manon's eyes grew very wide and she started to jump up and down.

"A whole museum of life-size dolls! Can I play with them please?" Manon begged even using her puppy dog eyes in hopes it would make her babysitter bend to her will.

It didn't work this time. "Manon, there not dolls. Their statues replicating famous people or moments in history for everyone to enjoy. Come on I'll show you."

Marinette picked up Manon and carried her inside. The entrance opened up to the majestic Hall of Columns. Manon's eyes were going everywhere as she noticed the Baroque setting with fine rosewood paneling, gilt, and marble.

The vaulted ceiling, supported by 12 columns, has bronze embellishments along with five female figures who gaze down at you; each sculpted woman represents one of five continents.

"Look, but don't touch. These statues are like living history. Many famous people have their likeness in this museum."

"Even Ladybug?" the little girl asked in awe.

"Yes we do," a woman said. She was the curator of the museum and was smiling pleased that the little girl was enjoying the museum. "We've recently added a whole new wing to the museum. Not only does it include many of the notable citizens in this time, but there is also an entire section dedicated to the heroes of Paris and several of their foes."

"That's so cool!" Alya said. She had heard nothing about this and a video of the wing was sure to get the attention of the followers of her blog.

The small group was escorted to the statue making area, where the curator explained the process of creating the figures and how much detail went into making them perfectly lifelike.

She also explained that if the person they were making a statue of couldn't come in person, they used a variety of photos to get the dimensions right. "Gabriel and Adrien Agreste will be the newest statues added to our notable citizen's wing. In the meantime, would you like to stay and watch the process or take a tour?"

Alya and Nino were up for the tour. Marinette, however, was feeling indecisive. She needed to talk to Adrien about what was going on, but it wasn't fair to keep Manon in this room if she wanted to explore.

Putting the little girl down, she spoke to Manon. "I need to stay here for a few minutes with Adrien so we can talk about some stuff. I should only be five or ten minutes at the most.

Do you think you can go with Nino and Alya for a little bit to tour the museum? I promise I'll catch up and we can make a game of what are the statues thinking."

Manon nodded brightly promising to behave. She reached out and held Nino's hand as the couple followed the curator on a tour.

The sculptor excused himself for a few minutes to give them some privacy adding that he was going to get a snack. As soon as they were alone, their Kwamiis popped out.

"Thank the cheese gods! I was ten seconds from bolting. Do you think wax has a funny smell? Try having my nose, it's ten times worse!" Plagg moaned.

"Stop fooling around Plagg! Let's give our wielders a little space so they can talk." The two Kwamiis phased out of the room and took a spot on the molding to avoid being seen.

Inside the room, the blue haired teenager felt her shoulders sag heavily. Her whole body was trembling. "I hate waiting to get my computer back. It makes me feel dirty that the police had to confiscate it."

Adrien assured her this mess would all blow over soon. "No one believes you actually did it Marinette."

She rolled her eyes. "If that was true Adrien, I wouldn't be under investigation. The suspension is going to be on my school records, something that can't be removed even if I'm proved innocent."

Adrien grimaced knowing she was right. His tutors had kept meticulous records when he was home schooled. They also added notes about Adrien's behavior so anyone who looked at them would be aware of what kind of person he was.

Marinette wandered around the room unhappily. Her chest felt tight as she tried to suppress her anxiety. Without realizing it, she started to bit her nails. "I just feel alone. I strongly believe Lila has some part in this, I just don't know how."

Neither said anything for a few minutes. "I should go find Manon. I promised her I would only be here for a few minutes." She started to open the door when both Kwamiis phased inside.

"Don't open that door!" Tikki warned the heroes.

"The statues from the new wing have come to life!" Plagg exclaimed. He peered back at the door. We were just minding our own business and suddenly we see Hawkmoth roaming the halls."

"Only, we quickly realized it wasn't him when he walked into another wax statue and his limb fell off. That's when we saw Puppeteer leading them, telling them to bring her all the statues so she could play with them.

"This is my fault! I should have stayed with Manon."

Plagg commented that he was sure it wasn't Marinette's fault, because Puppeteer was screaming about a magic unicorn and her boyfriend who wouldn't share something with her.

Tikki tapped him on the head and told him to focus. As soon as it was silent outside the door, the heroes transformed and went in search of Puppeteer.

* * *

At the moment Puppeteer was flying around and making silly faces in the Hall of Mirrors. Playing with her was the wax statue of her mom, a few historical figures, along with Bubbler and Lady WIFI.

"I'm having such a great time are you Mama?" The wax statue nodded and she stood on her head and shook around before falling over and breaking.

"Don't worry Mama, I'll put you back together!" Puppeteer announced as she touched the wax figure reassembling her. The little Akuma giggled and then waved her wand at the historical figures. "Go set up a tea party for us!"

Once they left, Puppeteer was about to order around Bubbler and Lady WIFI, when Ladybug and Chat Noir burst onto the scene.

"It's time we cut your strings Puppeteer!" Chat Noir announced.

"You're the one about to get strung up! Minions, show them what we do to those who won't share with me!"

Lady WIFI pointed her phone at them and started swiping pause signs all over the place.

The two heroes scrambled up the walls and dodged about as the pause signs bounced off them.

Bubbler sent tons of bubbles at the two heroes who dispersed them with their weapons. Chat Noir broke his baton in half and hurled both pieces like boomerangs.

With the statues distracted, Ladybug sent her yo-yo out and angled the two of them so when they used their powers to stop the batons they captured each other.

"No! I won't let you ruin my fun! Let's see you defeat yourselves!" The wax statues of Ladybug and Chat Noir came out of the hall and attacked. Wax Chat Noir went after Ladybug and vice versa.

The battle went on for another twenty minutes until Ladybug's Lucky Charm, a small dole rod, helped her make a fake wand and switch it with the one Puppeteer had and was able to cleanse the akuma.

When asked about what had upset Manon enough to get her akumatized again, she replied that Alya and Nino wouldn't share their phones with her when she asked to use one to take a few pictures by herself.

* * *

At Master Fu's, he was trying another holistic method to encourage the muscle tissue to regenerate faster. This time it was crystal therapy.

Again, another treatment that wasn't believed to be helpful because it lacked scientific evidence to prove it worked. On the other hand, no real efforts had been made to prove it didn't work because of professional bias.

He wrapped a string of blue apatite around Ning's arm and started to gently rub them so the vibrations of the crystal would enter her body. "Blue apatite not only promotes cell growth, but it is also a stone associated with focusing our mind so that we are more conscious about being humanitarians."

He then asked her to hold onto a piece of black tourmaline for half an hour. "The properties of this crystal help purify you of any negative energy surrounding the injury or in your mind.

It is very powerful in healing muscle problems. Remember to use it sparingly and if you are still in pain, to take a pain pill."

Ning nodded and relaxed. She could sense the vibrations of the crystals moving through her body and stimulating her injured muscles to grow more cells. "I wish scientist would stop disregarding alternative healing medicines. After all, the growth of scientific medicine was because of observation of these remedies to figure out what worked and what didn't."

Master Fu chuckled, knowing what she said was true. There was nothing wrong with using alternative healing if you also used modern medicine in tangent. "I'm still looking for a healing feather. When you're my age, you tend to have collected lots of items. Sorting through them will take a little more time."

Ning nodded and tried to relax. She knew it was important to do everything she could to get better faster. Honorra had been helping her stay up to date on current events and she was positive her bosses would need her soon to help with some crises.

Her relaxation was broken when she heard someone yipping loudly. Rolling her eyes under her lids she called out, "Yipper, what's with all the yipping?"

The dhole like kwami floated into the room and quickly attached himself to Master Fu. "Great Guardian, I sensed something went wrong. There was an Akuma attack earlier that had something to do with sharing."

The man's forehead wrinkled upon hearing that. "Are you certain? There hasn't been anything on the news."

Yipper waggled his head furiously. He had felt something wrong with his abstract and Honorra checked out the LadyNoir blog and Alya had just posted about an attack at the wax museum.

"The victim was a little girl, who got upset because two of the temporary heroes wouldn't share something with her. I would like to speak to Marinette to find out what happened and possibly help prevent another incident."

Master Fu thought it over. Young children easily got upset and were firm believers in the life lessons they have been recently taught. It seemed that the teenagers may need reminding of that.

Fu gave Yipper permission to go as long as he had another kwami watching his back. Redda agreed to go with him because of her incredible senses would spot danger miles ahead.

* * *

Marinette was in her room, lying down on her chaise, one hand against her forehead, her eyes closed. "That was not something I expected to happen today. Do you think Manon overreacted when Alya and Nino, didn't allow her to borrow their phones for a few minutes?"

Tikki shrugged her shoulders not sure how to answer that question. "In Manon's mind, she thought your friends were being unfair. While in Alya and Nino's mind didn't want to take a chance a little girl would break their phones. I don't know what to think."

Her antennas twitched and she looked up at the window. Redda and Yipper were knocking softly on the glass asking to be let in. Tikki signaled them to come in.

"Greetings "cousins". What brings you over here?"

"I felt today's Akuma was caused by a problem with sharing. Could you explain the situation to me please?" Yipper listened closely and thought over the problem.

He then turned his attention to Marinette. "Manon did overreact slightly. She's a little girl who doesn't have a complete understanding of what items you share and which to you don't.

On the other hand, if Nino or Alya were worried about the phones they could have shown her how to hold the device properly so it wouldn't break. There was no reason they couldn't have shared their phones."

Marinette understood where the kwami was coming from and asked him what she should do.

"Just remind your friends that sharing is an important part of friendship and setting a good example for younger kids. Teaching others is also a good part of sharing," Yipper suggested and the teenager agreed to do that.

* * *

It was day four of Marinette's suspension and Lila was doing her best to keep a calm facade on the outside. Inside, she was fuming. Her careful planning and Marinette hadn't been akumatized!

It wasn't a total loss, the girl was suspended and with that stupid robot's help, she could still get her expelled and banned from fashion for a lifetime. Her revenge on her parents was still unfolding.

She really should thank the dark web hacker she had contacted when she was putting together the worm, to give her this much control over the dimwitted A.I. Without his help, she never would have been able to pull over this cybercrime thing with just a book about computers.

Thanks to Markov, she had sent out emails, leaking certain secrets to the media about her parents. Once people started questioning her parents about their mental state or the fact they had been arrested, the backlash would make them extremely unpopular.

They'll discover what it's like to be punished for something as trivial as a few lies. Then grandmother and grandfather will have to undo my punishment so I can take over their jobs the teenager thought to herself.

Today, Lila would enact her next strike against her enemies. She was going to take out Ladybug and everyone who had wronged her in one single swoop. All she had to do was wait for the moment to strike.

During the lunch break, she saw Ladybug taking a swing over the school. No doubt she was on the lookout for an Akuma. Perfect.

Tapping her phone again, she had Markov leave Max's bag and zip up to the roof. The tiny robots' eyes glowed dangerously and it proceeded to shake several roof tiles around causing them to shift. With a mighty tug, a huge section of the roof started to fall towards the students below causing everyone to scream.

Predictably, Ladybug swung back and tossed her yo-yo as the magical string zipped all over creating a net to save the students. Once everyone was safe, Ladybug landed in the courtyard and started asking if anyone knew what happened.

"We don't know Ladybug. We didn't hear or see anything. The tiles just came crashing down," Kagami informed her. Mr. Damocles came out of his office to see what was happening and was shocked by the debris hanging over the courtyard.

"Ladybug, was this the result of an Akuma attack? Should we evacuate the school?"

"Let me check something first Mr. Damocles." The superheroine jumped up to the roof to check out the tiles.

"Time for your little surprise, Ladybug!' Lila whispered softly to herself. Her phone allowed her to see through the toy's eyes as it hid under some tiles. "Just move a tiny bit more, now!"

Ladybug let out a yelp as something grabbed her and started applying pressure to the leg. It felt like whatever had grabbed wanted to break her ankle. The superheroine pulled hard, trying to get away.

The students below knew something was wrong as those on the second floor could see Ladybug struggling to free her left foot from inside a hole. Alya was on the second floor and called out, "Ladybug! What's wrong?!"

"Somethings got my ankle! Whatever it is won't let go and its grip is getting even tighter!"

Everyone wondered what they could do to help her. Just then, Chat Noir arrived on the scene and rushed over. He peered into the hole and was immediately blinded by a flash of green light.

The hero stumbled back as his lady lunged and grabbed his tail. As she pulled her partner back up, she felt whatever was holding her let go. Without the pressure, her body flopped over.

Both her yo-yo and Chat's baton rolled into the hole. There was a nasty giggle and then to their surprise, Markov popped out the hole. His eyes were flashing dangerously green, but other than that he looked normal.

"Markov?" they both said in disbelief. Max couldn't believe what he was seeing as he searched his bag. When he didn't see the robot he had to admit it was his robot.

Kim looked at his best friend hurt. "Max? Was it you behind all the bad things that happened to our class?"

"NO! I don't know what's wrong with Markov. I'm going to try to get him down here. MARKOV! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Fulfilling my objective with my new master! Now that I have Ladybug and Chat Noir's weapons, this entire arrondissement will be disabled by the virus I'm about to release!"

The heroes lunged forward at Markov, who used his claw to slide open the communications features. Doing a few loops backward, he managed to stay out of reach as he uploaded a virus to the tools, which in turn started sending the virus to every device within the arrondissement, essentially crippling the entire area making the people within perfect victims for akumanzation.

* * *

Chat Noir pounced on Markov and completed a few flips as he landed in the courtyard. Ladybug grabbed the tools and stared at the screen as an icon, a heart with a knife stabbed in it, flashed.

"I don't know how to fix this!" Ladybug whined loudly.

"Yeoch!" Chat Noir cried out as Markov overheat. Smoke started spewing out of the tiny robot. The hero dropped the robot on the ground. One huge puff of smoke and the panel to Markov's parts burst open.

Fanning the smoke away, Max used a towel Kim had given him, to pick up his robot. Peering inside, he saw the problem and using a pair of tweezers to pluck out the special chip.

A quick look over confirmed his suspicions. "The special chip I use for helping Markov understand his emotions has been sabotaged. It allowed a hacker to gain access to Markov and control him remotely."

It was a very nefarious scheme and the heroes didn't know what to do. Outside the school, everyone heard a crash. The heroes ran out and saw cars piling up on each other thanks to the stoplights being disabled.

"We have to do something, My Lady. If we don't, who knows how many people will get hurt?"

"I agree, but how do we undo all this? An Akuma didn't cause this so Miraculous Ladybug won't fix this."

It was a conundrum which had no easy answer. They had never come across something like this before.

Behind them, they heard someone coughing. They turned and saw Max there fiddling with his glasses. "I would like to help if I can. Since this virus originated inside Markov, I could bring him to a tech service in a different arrondissement. Maybe they can come up with an antivirus to restore things to normal."

Ladybug nodded saying that would be an excellent idea. She then turned to Mr. Damocles and asked a favor. "I know this is a lot to ask, but until help arrives do you think you and your school could help people out in minor situations?"

He promised his school would do their best. Knowing they had help, the two superheroes left to start helping people in the most danger. Their first stop would be the hospital to make sure the doctors and nurses were able to help their patients.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the preeminent words used to describe the state of affairs would be organized chaos. Physician aids were doing their best to keep patients calm. Nurses were running around with paper charts on their patients as the secretary staff seemed to be acting like messengers as they conveyed important information from doctor to doctor.

One of the administrating staff spotted the heroes and dashed over. "Ladybug, Chat Noir thank god you're here! Is this the result of an Akuma attack?" the man asked anxiously.

Ladybug shook her head. "I'm afraid not. A hacker sent a virus out to every device in the entire arrondissement shutting everything. Help from the other arrondissements will be dispatched soon, but until then, we want to help you in any way we can."

The man was very disappointed to hear the heroes couldn't fix the situation. However, the hospital needed all the help they could get. He asked if one of them could do something about the elevators being stuck and if one of them could assist in helping moving patients.

Ladybug went to see what she could do about the elevators while Chat Noir started helping to move critical patients to their destination. He hoped no one would die during this attack.

Half an hour later help arrived to get the hospital running again. Bidding goodbye, the heroes head out again. "Where to next My Lady?"

"Could you swing by the bank and see how people are handling the fact they can't access their accounts right now? I'm going to check on some public Wi-Fi spots to make sure no one lost important data. After that, could you go see if Max has figured out an antivirus for this?" Her partner nodded and they went their separate ways.

Chat Noir managed to keep the patrons at the bank calm. They were understandably annoyed that they couldn't access their money. When the police arrive to keep the unruly crowd under control the hero dashed out deciding check on the residents in arrondissement and make sure they were okay.

Ladybug had finished her sweep through the arrondissement and was glad to find out that for the most part, citizens' electronic data was safe. She headed to Fu's to see if he or Ning could possibly remove the virus from her yo-yo.

* * *

When she arrived, the two of them in the kitchen with the other Kwamiis. Without looking up from the computer in the corner, Ning called out, "I'm working a way to get the virus wiped from your weapon and coming up with a way to prevent this from happening again."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "I know you have had excessive training in different fields. I didn't know you knew had to write computer code."

Fu chuckled slightly over this. "As she put it, she's pretty fluent when it comes to getting inanimate objects to listen to her. This event is unprecedented, but I think we're in good hands here."

Twenty minutes later Adrien entered the residence. "Max is testing his antivirus on Markov. Hopefully, it will work. I'm surprised tools created by magic could get infected by a computer virus."

"As the years pass the magic of the Miraculous must make changes to the tools to keep up with the technology. Which includes its vulnerabilities," Fu explained.

Five minutes later, Ning handed over her antivirus over to the teens. The transformed again and wiped their tools clean of the virus before turning into civilians again.

"Thank goodness that worked. I still can't believe someone used our tools to spread this virus everywhere."

Honorra called out from the computer. "Your friend's antivirus worked. All devices have been restored to normal in your arrondissement. The police are going to have their cybercrime unit look into this attack. Oh, an emergency broadcast is airing on TV!"

Turning on the small TV, the group saw Nadja Chamack in the studio with CEO and owner of Treasures Incorporated Simon Rossi. At least that's what the ticker tape below said.

"I'm Nadja Chamack. Earlier today, the entire Twenty First, (doesn't exist in real life,) was crippled by a computer virus that effectively shut down every electronic device.

A state of emergency was declared. During the crises, Ladybug and Chat Noir were seen helping people in the hospital, banks, and other institutions who rely heavily on computers to assist them with doing their job."

Turning towards Simon, she started her interview. "Mr. Rossi, the police have recently learned the cause of the virus was found in one your exclusive AI computer chips. The studio also received several emails making some vile claims against your company and the people working in it. What do you have to say about this?"

The instincts and manner of speech from the former patriarch of the crime family helped Simon Rossi look very concerned and regretful. "First, I wish to apologize to our customers who purchased those chips and the damage caused by them. My company intends to reimburse everyone who bought our chips and pay for the damage done by them.

We had no idea that a batch of our chips had been sabotaged so a hacker could use them as they pleased. We only found out today due to the emails you mentioned. When we received copies of those emails and when we learned what happened in the Twenty First arrondissement, we quickly ordered a recall of all the chips that were made that day.

I suspected one of our competitors was hoping to ruin our reputation and stop the production of these special chips due to many of them being sent to government agencies and scientific research centers. If that happened, they could inspect one of the chips and build their own copy."

Nadja nodded her head in agreement. "That does seem likely. Will your company be willing to assist the police in their investigation?"

Simon assured her they would do everything possible to bring the responsible parties to justice. When asked about the troubling emails he explained the truth behind them.

"Yes, it is true my son was arrested. His crime was driving with an expired license. He was on his way to the DMV to get it renewed when he was arrested. The charges were dropped after he paid his fine.

As for my daughter in law, I'm extremely upset that I must explain a private matter to the public to save our family's reputation. My wonderful daughter in law was in a psychiatric hospital for a short time to help with her postpartum depression after she gave birth to her daughter."

The man continued to answer questions about other emails that put his family and company in a bad light. He appeared to very genuine and by reading his body language Fu and Ning knew he was telling the truth.

"I want to send a message out to the parties behind this. Your crime against my company and more importantly, my family, was reprehensible. When you're caught I will insist to the judicial authorities to give you the longest punishment possible."

The interview ended a few minutes later and the humans and Kwamiis looked at one another concerned about what they just heard.

"Do you think Lila would intentionally sabotage her family's product and send out those emails? She wants to be part of her family's business not be driven from it," Adrien asked curiously.

Marinette shrugged her shoulders. Lila had lied and done a lot of bad things in the past, but to hurt your own family by divulging their secrets? That did seem a little extreme.

Fu took a sip of his tea and reminded the group that emotions were complicated things. No one except the actual person feeling them would be able to predict their responses.

"I'm afraid this is not something we can solve. We have to let the police handle this matter. One thing is certain, if Lila was involved in this in any way, she will get her conniptions one day," Ning promised.


	8. Respect

**I hope you all enjoy my version of Ikari Gozen in this chapter.**

* * *

A few days had passed since the day the arrondissement had been shut down for the better part of the day. The cybercrime unit was continuing their investigation trying to figure out who was controlling Markov that set this occurrence into motion.

At Treasures Incorporated, every employee, family member, and their friends were being questioned and investigated. They were going over every inch of the factory to find out where the breach in security was.

Until they discovered the culprit, production of the special AI chips was suspended, costing the company millions in profits. That was not acceptable at all. The Rossi family was out for blood.

Lila was scheduled to be questioned after school that day. She was not looking forward to it. After the incident, she was being watched even more closely by her family members and her therapy sessions had increased to twice a week.

She needed to get rid of her phone and get a new one soon. That had proven to be a challenge. She couldn't dispose of it at home because the janitorial staff from the company had been given over time as they went through the trash going out of the manor.

Disposing it on her way to, from, and at the school was a no go as well. She was being escorted by a family member every day and Ms. Mendievel was keeping a close watch on her.

Her attempts to frame someone else were not succeeding. People were watching their bags with intensity these days. The police had been combing the school every day. They had wanted to confiscate the students' phones, but it was considered a breach of the rights of minors.

The same applied to their home computers. Without evidence, they did not have the legal right to seized them. They had returned Marinette's computer to her after it was determined she had not created the photo with her computer or anyone elses.

I need to get a new phone and quickly! There has to be a way to get a new one before the school day ends! I will not be punished a second time, Lila vowed to herself.

She glanced around the courtyard eyeballing possible targets. In five minutes classes would begin for the day. Surely someone had a phone she could swap out with!

Hard as she tried, she couldn't find anyone who was not guarding their phone. Worse, none of them matched her phone and her parents would know instantly that she had swapped phones.

All morning, the Italian teenager was racking her brain for a way out of this situation. If it was discovered that she had been behind the sabotage and the subsequent shut down of the arrondissement then her appropriate revenge would backfire on her.

When lunch came around, Lila was debating if she should just break her phone or claim she lost it. No, that wouldn't work because of the timing! "Ugh, this is the worst. There has to be a way to get out of this."

An idea came into her head. "I don't need to swap the phone, I just need to get another SIM card. One that doesn't have the information on the worm on it." Now how was she going to get a new SIM card?

Once again, some instinct took over. As she walked past some younger students, she bumped into them. In a flash, she managed to use sleight of hand to snatch a phone. She quickly changed the SIM cards and dropped the other phone on the ground, causing the younger students to turn back around.

"Hey, did you just swipe my phone?" the younger student demanded.

"Of course I didn't. Don't blame me if you're clumsy enough to drop your phone and nearly break it." Turning around, Lila smiled. She was very pleased that she had nothing to worry about now.

When she strode into the conference room later that afternoon, she had a huge smile on her face and greeted the board, who were made up of individuals from different family branches in several departments. "I'm here for my questioning."

"Thank you for coming to us today Lila. If you don't mind, could you please hand over your phone," Simon asked her, gesturing to the head of the tech department. She gracefully handed it over.

"We have a few questions for you Lila. Do you know anyone who would commit such a crime? Perhaps an employee or family member that had been bribed?"

She shook her head. "I honestly cannot think of a single person I know in the company who would do this. Then again, I don't know every last employee in this city. Perhaps someone from another company office in another country could have done it."

Simon pondered this thought and nodded. "You were at the school where the robot carrying the virus malfunctioned. Did you see or notice anything suspicious."

"No, everyone who was supposed to be there was there. Seeing how Max was able to figure out the problem so quickly, perhaps he was lying about not knowing what was going on in with his robot Markov."

Her grandmother took over the questioning asking if she was using the protective software the computer techs had developed for their products and making sure she was following computer safety rules.

"Of course I am. I'm sure you already checked my computer out and it's clean. You have also been monitoring my activities since I was grounded, so I can't be connected to what happened."

She was asked several more questions about the AI chips, what she had been doing before the shutdown, even to who she had been talking with recently. When the questioning was over she was dismissed.

"Finally, I'm free. What a waste of my time. I deserve a nice long hot bath," she said to herself. She took the short way back to her family's suite ready for this day to be over.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw somehow her grandparents had beat her to the suite and were in the parlor with her parents. Each of them was looking at her hard. Her mom had tears in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Lila asked warily. She needed to be very careful here. One misstep or slip up and she would be in serious trouble.

"Sit down Lila. We need to talk about your involvement in this mess," her father informed her. "Don't even think of protesting you're not involved! It was not a coincidence that the virus was released at your school."

Once his daughter was seated, Vino narrowed his eyes at her in disgust. "How _dare_ you reveal your mother and my private business to the media! How do you think you made us feel when you decided to blab about your mother going to a psychiatric ward, especially when it was to help her take care of you as a baby?

I was working with your grandparents on a proposal idea for a new security system for the police when those emails were released! I was in shock!"

"But I didn't do that Dad, honestly I didn't!"

"Don't lie to us, Lila! We know you were involved in this! We found these in your room earlier," her mother told her sharply. She slammed the books on computers and programs on the table. Lila did her best not reveal her shock about them finding the books.

"Your father and I were hoping to find evidence to prove you had nothing to do with this, but apparently we were wrong. You marked enough pages to show us you had malicious intent to use the company's AI chips to get back at people you perceived had wronged you."

Her grandmother pulled out the list of people Lila wanted to get back at from her pocket and her grandfather returned her phone as he held onto the stolen SIM card.

"Imagine our surprise when we discovered your SIM card didn't match with the phone you were given by the company. Also surprising, was your computer account was used in the manufacturing factory where it shouldn't be," Jeanne hissed and her granddaughter.

"Not to mention, the robot in question belongs to a student at your school. That is not a coincidence Lila. We've put enough of the facts together to figure out what part you played in this," Simon informed his granddaughter.

Lila gulped as the old man's eyes burrowed into her soul, making her a tiny bit frightened.

"You wanted revenge against the people you perceived who had mistreated you, completely disregarding your actions, which you were being punished for, in the misguided attempt that you would prove your punishment was unjust?

That is the least logical idea you have ever had young lady! Even stupider then making the computers and production lines for our product malfunction," the old man bellowed at her.

Lila tried to make herself smaller as her punishment for leaving the company accounts open so someone with the dark web could do damage was very serious.

As of now, she had lost her phone and computer privileges she had earned back. Along with that, she was not allowed to watch any form of TV or listen to any music.

Her grounding was extended another two months and her allowance would be going towards helping reimburse customers who bought sabotaged chips. She would have to do everyone's chores for two more months. Worse, she now had to go to bed at nine p.m.

Vino and Olivia had discussed the possibility of strapping an ankle monitor on her but agreed it was too disproportionate. This was her second strike. One more and she would lose everything.

* * *

It was another night on rooftops as Chat Noir and Ladybug watched Rene Rouge, Carapace, and Honey Bee practicing their defensive powers once more. The heroes had been meeting at least once a week since this started and there were noteworthy signs of improvement.

They had all memorized the patterns for activating their defensive powers. Carapace was currently trying to lower himself to the floor as Hibernation took effect.

He managed to get halfway down before he slumped face first on the roof. Chat Noir whistled softly clearly impressed. "He managed to get halfway down by himself without anyone helping to do so. That is an improvement."

Ladybug nodded as she gauged the progress of Honey Been and Rene Rouge. Honey Bee was starting to strike her training dummy every time she used Honeycomb.

She still needs to put more force into her strike and removing the top quickly. She's taking a minute longer than she needs to to get away Ladybug thought to herself.

Rene Rouge concentrated hard as she played the tune before calling out, "False Trail!" Once more the orange smoke covered the area. When it was gone she grimaced.

She had managed to get an outline of a full body and from her head, down to her shoulders, everything looked okay. The rest of the body was wearing her school clothes.

"Dang it, I thought I had it this time," she muttered to herself. With a wave of her hand, she released the power and steadied herself. That had been her third attempt that night and she was starting to get woozy.

Ladybug came over and helped steady the heroine asking if she needed to take a break. "I'm good. I want to try again."

"I think you need to take a break. You've been attempting to do this over and over again without taking a break. You're going to burn out."

"Babe, sit down already. We'll have some munchies then try again," Carapace informed her. He was already sitting down eating some macaroons Ladybug had brought for them.

While the three temporary heroes refueled, Chat Noir and Ladybug were having a private discussion between one another.

"They've done a good job so far. Hopefully, in two weeks they'll be able to use their powers perfectly."

"I'm not sure about that Chat. I admit they're getting better, but I still feel like we're rushing this. They need to build up more stamina and so far it seems they haven't made any progress on that."

Chat Noir knew they just needed a little more time to improve. He promised to remind the temps about training as civilians to keep themselves in shape because they never knew when they would be called on.

Ladybug agreed with him about that, then asked his opinion on King Monkey. "He's only been used once and he was a great help. Should we think about bringing him along next time we have these practice sessions?"

Chat made a face and wrinkled his nose. "Unless you want to turn these practice sessions into a competition I say we don't. We can't bring Kkachi to these training sessions because of Honorra's health issues."

"Nor can we afford to have Bunnyx to join us. Her powers are too strong to risk training with everyone. Not to mention the more people we recruit, the harder it is to find a place to train without catching Hawkmoth's attention. For now, I guess King Monkey will have to wait out the training sessions."

* * *

The next appointment Lila had with her therapist, Vino accompanied his wife and daughter, so he could talk with Dr. Rocky about Lila's recent behavior. Neither one of them were very happy with their daughter right now.

Even getting Lila to admit what she did to Dr. Rocky was like pulling teeth. The teenager didn't see anything wrong with what she did.

"It wasn't fair for everyone to treat me like a criminal and invade my privacy as well. You don't know what it's like to be constantly watched by everyone because of a simple joke.

Now I'm even more like a prisoner. I have a curfew for bedtime! I'm not a little kid who has to go to sleep at a certain time. I'm not allowed any form of entertainment. What am I supposed to do for fun now?"

Dr. Rocky paused for a few minutes before replying. "There are a lot of activities open to you. Most of them would help relieve boredom and help you understand your mistakes.

I suggest reading books or doing word searches. You could also use the time to write down your feelings. Even talk to others about why you feel things are unfair."

Lila rolled her eyes upon hearing this. It was impossible to talk to her family because they were the source of her frustration at the moment. Once more, they would never understand that she knew what she was doing and that they should do what she wanted them to do.

Vino sent Lila a disapproving look for her eye rolling. He was tired of his daughter's disrespect towards others. "Lila, I know you think we are being unfair and cruel, but that is not the case here. We do what we do because we love you very much and want what's best for you.

If you continue down this path you'll end up in trouble with the law or alone and penniless. You need to start seeing the world through other people's eyes."

"You also need to take responsibility for your actions and realize that your behavior is unacceptable and needs to change."

Lila clenched her hands. "I'm trying to learn, it's just not that easy."

Dr. Rocky continued the session talking with the family and encouraging Lila to work harder on her cognitive behavior exercises. When there were ten minutes left in the session he asked Lila to go wait in the waiting room. He had something he needed to talk about in private with her parents.

When Lila left, Dr. Rocky put down his notes and reached up to take off his glasses to clean them. "After the past few weeks, I can give you an accurate diagnosis of what your daughter mental issue is.

The pattern of Lila's pathological lying, along with her narcissism, attention-seeking behavior, combined with her complete lack of remorse has led me to a confirmed diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder."

Vino and Oliva both blinked several times before squeezing their hands together. "Could you explain what that means and what can be done for Lila?" Vino asked.

Dr. Rocky pulled open a drawer on his desk and passed them both a packet containing information on the disorder. Tapping his fingers together he started to explain what this disorder was about.

"People with antisocial personality disorder don't understand the difference between right and wrong. Since they don't have any remorse for their activities and our indifferent towards other people's feelings and they are known to engage in criminal behavior."

He tapped the packets with a pen, indicating the ones he circled as the most dangerous symptoms of the disease. This included persistent lying and manipulation of others for gain and pleasure. Having no empathy for others and an inflated sense of superiority, arrogance, and opinion of themselves.

Probably the most dangerous part of the disorder was the hostile and violent behavior towards others regardless of the danger and personal responsibility for anything.

"From what you told me about your daughter's life, she displayed some precursor symptoms such as stealing items from the grocery store and unusual amount of destruction of property.

While at this time there is no clear answer what causes the disorder several factors do contribute to this disorder. These can include genetics and brain development during in utero, combined with a family history of behavioral and mental problems and the family environment a child is raised in."

Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Is this my fault? I suffered postpartum depression and we've been raising her the same way we were all her life."

Dr. Rocky assured her it wasn't her fault. As he had stated, the exact cause was unknown and several things could be contributing to this disorder. "Antisocial-personality disorder comes with its complications. Due to their nature, people with this disorder often participate in crime related activities and will abuse anyone who they perceive as a threat. That can include parents, partners, and classmates. They also don't live as long as normal behavior because of their reckless behavior."

Taking a deep breath, he had the parents flip through the packet to the section on treating this disorder. "Since the disease isn't usually diagnosed until a person is in their late teens it is difficult to figure out treatment plans for the rest of their lives.

So far we've tried psychotherapy and I'm hoping in time it might help Lila lessen her behavioral problems, but they won't go away completely ever. Also, therapy can only help if she wants it and she doesn't.

If she was suffering from other mental illness I would prescribe medication, but she isn't. Sometimes patients can learn through intense treatment how to recognize other people's emotions and respond normally some of the time by working with their family members."

"Do you think that would work for Lila?"

"I'm not sure it would giving the fact that Lila actively doesn't believe she has a problem. As she is right now, she is unable to handle responsibility for taking care of herself or even participating in group-related activities.

The only long term solution would be to admit Lila to a long term mental health facility where doctors have experience treating this disorder and she can benefit from round the clock behavioral correction therapy.

If you are not ready for that yet, the packet includes information on coping skills and numbers to support groups. If you do decide to place her in a long term care facility, please contact me and I'll look into it."

Dr. Rocky promised to continue working with Lila for now until the Rossi found a specialist for her disorder or decided to go along with his suggestion.

* * *

Today was a special day. It was Friendship Day. Gabriel Agreste was sponsoring an event to help people make friends through a riddle game. The game was simple.

Everyone who was participating would get a riddle text that would lead them to their new friend. From there on the two new friends would work together to solve several riddles and clues. Whoever successfully solved all the riddles and found Adrien would win the game and get their picture taken with them.

Marinette secretly knew the game was a way of promoting the _Gabriel_ brand. Adrien had explained all participants would be receiving a gift certificate for one item at his father's store. Getting one item would inspire customers to save up money for another item.

It was a little dishonest on Mr. Agreste's part. Still, if it would help people make lots of new friends then she was all for it.

After hearing her riddle she went to the Canal Saint-Martin to meet up with whoever was her new friend. She was surprised by who she saw. "Kagami? What are you doing here? I thought your mom forbid you from participating."

"She did, but I decided to participate anyway," Kagami calmly explained. She clenched her fist together. "You know how my mother is. I'm not allowed to have any friends besides Adrien. Mother believes friendships only lead to heartbreak."

"Which is why you only hang out with your friends at school or sneak them into your home for lunch when your mother is at work. I honestly don't understand her reasoning. My mom would never do that to me. How long do you have before she checks in?"

"Two hours. So are you ready to play?" Kagami asked. Marinette nodded as they looked up their next riddle and hurried to finish the game before Kagami's mother realized she wasn't at their home.

As the girls played, Marinette tried to help Kagami learn to socialize a bit better. While her classmates understood her seriousness and sometimes aloof attitude, the Japanese girl wanted to be able to interact with others outside of school.

They had just retrieved a box from under a bench. Kagami smiled at Marinette sending shivers down her spine. "We need to work on your smiling Kagami. I know it's not your intention to make people feel creeped out but that's just the feeling I get."

Kagami frowned and let out a groan. "I know. Ondine has told me the same thing. It's just difficult for me. I'm not as bubbly or super friendly. I don't have anyone to smile for."

Seeing her friend so disheartened, Marinette placed her hands on Kagami's shoulder's blades making sure they were looking into each other's eyes. "Kagami, I understand that in your culture; respect plays a huge part in relationships, especially between family members.

You show so much respect for your mother by following her rules and learning the noble arts. The thing is, your mother hasn't been as respectful to _you_ as you are to her.

It's hard to stand up for yourself, I should know. Unless you do, you're never going to be able to do what you want and show your mother friendship won't always lead to heartbreak."

This time Kagami made a real smile. She was happy to have Marinette as a compassionate friend.

* * *

At that moment, they both heard what sounded like hoofbeats along with someone screaming at the top of her lungs, "KAGAMI! WHERE ARE YOU? I AM IKARI GOZEN AND I WILL FIND YOU!" The two girls quickly ran into the nearby park and hid in the public restroom.

Peeking out the door, their jaws dropped at the sight of the new Akuma storming through the park. First off, Ikari Gozen appeared to be based on a centaur as her lower body resembled a horse. The upper half of her body was humanoid.

She had pupilless yellow eyes, partially covered with a helmet with a large horn and bearing the Tsurugi family crest on her chest.

Her entire skin was metallic red and she had car parts. Tires for joints, headlights and exhaust ports. She also held a bokken in her right hand.

"WHERE ARE YOU, MY DISOBEDIENT DAUGHTER? I AM NEVER GOING TO LET YOU OUT AGAIN!"

"I should surrender myself to her. If she has me she might stop terrorizing the rest of the city," Kagami pointed out. She started to push the door open only for Marinette to hold her back.

"If you go out there and surrender, then Ladybug and Chat Noir won't be able to effectively fight your mom if they're worried about hurting you. You need to stay hidden."

The designer eyed Kagami's outfit and had a brilliant idea. Five minutes later, Marinette disguised as Kagami, ran out of the bathroom and into the park. Ikari Gozen spotted her and gave chase. "YOU WILL NOT RUN AWAY FROM ME KAGAMI!"

Marinette ran as fast as she could. With the sun out and her sharp hearing, she was able to determine Ikari Gozen's exact position, so when the Akuma tried to grab her, she was able to backflip out of the way. Using those few precious seconds, she managed to reach the subway station stairs and went down, narrowly avoiding being caught again.

"YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY SO EASY KAGAMI! YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"

The disguised Marinette ducked into an empty bathroom stall. Pulling her legs up before she opened the jacket up to let Tikki out. "That was very brave of you Marinette! I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Tikki, but now is not the time for being praised. We have an Akuma on the loose and we'll need backup to defeat her. Hopefully, Master Fu has seen the news and will have the right Miraculous ready. Tikki spots on!"

About a minute later, Ladybug was jumping across the rooftops heading towards Master Fu's when she was intercepted by Chat Noir, and very surprisingly, a fully healed Peace Keeper!

"You're all better?" Ladybug blurted out.

Peace Keeper nodded. "We finally found the one healing feather he had. It was stashed away in a hatbox in the very back of the bathroom closet." She tossed a small Miraculous box in the air and caught it with her healed arm before handing it over to Ladybug.

"I know the perfect Miraculous for the situation. We'll distract Ikari Gozen, you get our backup."

Ladybug nodded and hurried back to the park hoping Peace Keeper and Chat Noir were able to keep up with the Akuma.

Kagami was waiting in the bathroom. Every instinct was telling her to go after her akumatized mother, but she had promised Marinette she would stay hidden while she led her away.

"Why did I let Marinette talk me into this? I'm the one who should be risking my life, not her." She reached for the door to fling it open when Ladybug stepped inside. "Good your still here."

"Ladybug, you knew I was here?"

The spotted heroine nodded and explained that Marinette had told her what was going on after she stashed the girl somewhere safe. "Ikari Gozen is a powerful Akuma. We can't beat her unless we have help from someone with the ability to focus on the goal without getting distracted."

Kagami was flabbergasted when Ladybug held out a tiny box for her to take. "Kagami Tsurugi, this is Dragon Miraculous which has the power of absolute focus. You will use this Miraculous to help stop Ikari Gozen. When the mission is complete you will return this to me and never speak about this to anyone. Do you understand?"

Kagami nodded solemnly. She opened the box as in a burst of red light the kwami appeared. Lonng was red with yellow eyes. He had four small black horns on his head and two larger ones on the side of his face. A larger red and black spiral horned protruded from the back of his head. His tail had a few black spikes on it.

"Greetings young Kagami. My name is Lonng and I believe you and I are going to get along well. Simply, put on the Miraculous and I will quickly explain your power.

Your power is Blaze, which you can channel through your weapon. The more focused you are, the stronger the power. Remember, after using your power you only have five minutes until you change back. Are you ready?"

Kagami had slipped the Miraculous, a black choker with red bead with a gold dragon on it, around her neck. "I'm ready."

"Say, Fire Up."

"Lonng, Fire Up!" The magic spread across her body as her borrowed outfit changed into her heroine form, Ryuko.

The outfit she wore consisted of a red bodysuit with an image of a black rose with a yellow outlining enveloping her from her left leg to her chest with the flower holding the image of a burning fire.

The Miraculous fused with her bodysuit giving her a turtle neck collar. Also, she had on black forearm-length gloves and black legs starting at a point in the middle of her lower legs, both with yellow outlining.

On the back of her head, she had four red dragon-like horns with yellow tips with black outlining. On her face, she had on a red mask around her eyes with a yellow and black outline at the base of the sides.

Her eyes also changed so they were now golden with the yellow sclera. In her hands, she carried a gold and black foil.

She caught of a glimpse of herself in the mirror and was awestruck about how amazing she looked. "This is exactly what I pictured in my mind. Let's go talk with my mother."

* * *

Chat Noir and Peace Keeper had managed to clear several of streets near the park of civilians. At the moment Peace Keeper was using Shell Guard to keep Ikari Gozen from escaping. Chat Noir was using his baton to hold back the sword that aimed at the two of them.

"Can you please assist me? A horse can stomp a kitty cat to death remember?" He pushed back only to be forced back as the Akuma pressed harder. "NO ONE CAN DEFEAT IKARI GOZEN!"

"How about a Swarm!" Peace Keeper shouted. She combined the Bee's power with Shell Guard hoping the swarm would distract the centaur woman long enough for Chat Noir to destroy her sword.

Unfortunately, the Akuma took a deep breath and bellowed at the top of her lungs destroying the magical Swarm and blew back the heroes, ending the Shell Guard.

"Look out!" Chat Noir didn't even have enough time to process what was going on when Peace Keeper shoved him out of the way and flew _inside_ Ikari Gozen open mouth.

"FOOLISH WOMAN! NOW YOU ARE TRAPPED INSIDE FOREVER! DON'T WORRY YOU WON'T BE ALONE FOR LONG ONCE I HAVE KAGAMI IN MY GRASPS."

The string of a yo-yo wrapped itself around the woman's mouth and was pulled tight silencing her loud voice for the moment. A split second later there was triumphant cry as the two front joints were struck by a sharp sword.

"Pardon us, but I don't think yelling at people is very respectful," Ladybug called out as she landed next to Ryuko.

The new heroine pointed her weapon at the Akuma. "Release that young woman right now and battle us fairly."

Back in his lair, Hawkmoth was growling as another new Miraculous user appeared. This was the seventh Miraculous brought into play by the heroes. "Ikari Gozen, be careful. You need to disarm the newest wielder before she uses her powers."

"OF COURSE HAWKMOTH! I SHALL DESTROY YOU, DRAGON GIRL!"

"My name is Ryuko!" the wielder informed the bad guys. She jumped up and used her weapon to slightly pierce the metal armor, causing the Akuma to stumble for five seconds. Ladybug called a retreat as the trio fell back to come up with a plan.

Once they had gotten a safe distance away the trio crouched behind a statue observing their opponent.

"My Lady, you don't think Peace Keeper is dead?" Chat whispered in alarm.

She shook her head. "No, you heard her. Peace Keeper would soon be joined with Kagami. I think Ikari Gozen is hollow inside and she has our friend trapped in there."

"What if one of us got swallowed as well, then we could take Ikari Gozen down from the inside," Ryuko suggested.

Ladybug shook her head, pointing out if it was that easy Peace Keeper would have come out by now. No, what they needed was a "Lucky Charm!" A box full of bath bombs landed in her hands.

A quick glance around and she knew what she had to do. "Here's the plan, Ryuko and Chat Noir, I need you to distract Ikari Gozen and get her to open her mouth as wide as possible so I can throw the Lucky Charm inside her.

When I give the signal, Ryuko you use your powers to strike the joint on her right front leg so she'll buckle. Once she drops her weapon, Chat Noir you destroy it so I can catch the akuma."

Ryuko and Chat Noir did as they were asked. Ryuko struck first by jumping on Ikari Gozen's back and started striking the metal. The Akuma bucked violently trying to throw her off.

Chat Noir broke his baton into two and hurled them both at the Akuma. One smacked Ikari Gozen on her forehead and the other banged into her neck. The two pieces came back to him and he clicked them back together. "Hey! Cough up our friend! We know you're as hollow as the Trojan Horse!"

"SUCH INSOLENCE FROM CHILDREN SHOULD BE PUNISHED! ONCE I HAVE YOUR MIRACULOUSES I WILL POUND YOU INTO THE DI...BLAH!"

While Ikari Gozen was screaming, Ladybug swung in and tossed the bath bombs down her throat. As she swung backward, she felt a smile appear on her face as Ikari Gozen started to cough and groan as the bath bombs started giving her indigestion curtsy of Peace Keeper using a water-based solvent on them.

"Ryuko now!" Ladybug shouted.

Ryuko jumped off the Akuma's back and held out her hand. Ladybug snagged her as they swung in front of the ailing Akuma. The dragon themed heroine focused all her attention on the joint.

"Blaze!" Out of the tip of her foil, a concentrated amount of golden energy swirled through the air striking the joint perfectly.

Ikari Gozen screeched as she buckled down onto the ground. She retched and out came Peace Keeper. She was dripping wet but otherwise fine.

Chat Noir scrambled over and Cataclysm the sword releasing the akuma. Ladybug snatched it up and purified it. Once the butterfly was restored to normal she used Miraculous Ladybug to restore order to the city.

Ryuko went over and helped her mother up. "Are alright Madame?" She made sure when she spoke to speak in a higher pitch so her mother didn't recognize her voice.

"Yes. What happened and where am I? Where's my daughter Kagami?"

Ladybug stepped forward. "You were akumatized by Hawkmoth and you're in the park. Our newest hero Ryuko will go get your daughter from her hiding place. Chat Noir, do you think you can help Ms. Tsurugi to her car?"

"Glad to be of service My Lady."

Ryuko was confused by the fact that Ladybug didn't mention Peace Keeper. The young woman gave a silent nod and activate a super quiet jetpack and took off disappearing from sight.

Returning to the public restroom, Ryuko released her transformation. "Lonng, Simmer Down." Kagami held out her hands as the little kwami landed gently in them.

"My dear, you wouldn't happen to have a mint on you? I'm famished."

Kagami shook her head. Loong sighed and then disappeared as the teenager relinquished her Miraculous. "Thank you Ladybug for giving me a chance to save my mother."

"You're welcome. I don't know what caused her akumanzation, but I do know this. You both need to sit down and talk to prevent this from happening again. Bug out!"

* * *

That night at dinner Kagami poked at her food. Her mother was still very angry with her and she was grounded for two weeks for not being honest about where she was.

Tomoe frowned as she heard her daughter playing with her food. "Kagami, food is for eating not playing with. I know today was difficult for both of us with me being akumatized.

I should not have let my anger take over me. At the same time, you shouldn't have disobeyed my wishes. I am your mother and I know best."

Kagami looked down at the table, her chest tightening. Why couldn't she speak up and tell her mom how she honestly felt?

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something moving through the air. Looking up, she managed not let out a sound as she saw two Kwamiis, one that looked like a red tailed hawk, and the other that resembled a moose with one antler levitated over and landed on her shoulders.

"Hello Kagami, it's nice to meet you in person. My name is Redda and I'm the Kwami of Honesty," the red tail hawk kwami whispered into her right ear.

"I'm Twiggy, the Kwami of Respect. Our "cousin" Lonng told us what happened today. We belong to the Friendship Miraculous Circle. We're here to help you explain to your mother what's in your heart," Twiggy whispered into her left ear.

Tomoe tapped her bokken on the floor to get her daughter's attention. "Kagami, I expect you to respond to me when I'm speaking to you."

"Yes, mother." The teenager felt feathers brushing against her skin as Redda whispered instructions of how to approach her mother honestly without overstepping her boundaries.

"Mother, I need to be candid about something with you. I only ask that you listen to what I have to say before replying please."

Tomoe frowned slightly as she settled into a more comfortable position. She tapped her bokken again signaling her daughter to speak.

"Mother, I know how you feel about friendship. It's something unnecessary and distracting. That it blinds you from accomplishing your goals. I'm being honest when I say I don't believe that."

With an encouraging pat from Redda, the teenager continued her speech. "I _have_ friends at school. Girls who understand me and a few boys who accept me as I am who and like me. I've even snuck a few of them into our home during lunch hour when you're at work."

Tomoe eyebrows narrowed as her grip on her bokken tightened. She resisted the urge to cut her daughter off knowing she had more to say.

This time, Twiggy gave some encouraging words of wisdom to the girl. "Mother, I deeply respect you. You are my mother, teacher, and best friend. I know you love me no matter what and I can count on you to be there for me.

On the other hand, I feel you don't respect me. I have tried several times to talk to you about friendship and you always dismiss me. If I'm having a problem at school you don't listen about it, you just say as a member of this family I have to better than the one causing the problem.

Sometimes, it feels like you don't even want me to have my own interests and hobbies. I understand that you are doing what you believe is best for me. However, I'm the only one who knows what I want and who I want to be.

I'm not you mother. I value my friends. I enjoy spending time doing other things besides learning the noble arts. I'm tired of endless practice matches against you. I want you to respect me for being _me._"

Tomoe lips thinned during her speech. She appreciated her daughter's candor. She was very surprised to find out her daughter had friends considering she had forbidden it.

In her youth, she had a person she considered her friend. The girl, Kita, had been in the same class and their backgrounds were very similar. They both studied together and trained as one. Tomoe had been satisfied by the simple relationship they had.

But Kita had wanted more. She started asking if they could go to the movies instead of studying for tests for three hours. Her traditional bento boxes starting having new foods from other countries in them.

Then one day she missed practice. Their sensei had been very angry with her. He had punished Kita accordingly, making her practice for hours until she dropped from exhaustion.

The next day Kita quit sword training. She explained she wanted more out of life than just simply doing what she was expected to do because it was traditional. Kita still wanted to be friends, but Tomoe told her she was being dishonorable towards her family and also to her by quitting.

After that incident, she never let herself get distracted by friendship and neither would Kagami. "Kagami, I understand you want more in your life, but your desires are dishonorable towards me and this family.

You must put aside your individuality in order to…."

A strange feeling came over the blind woman. If she had to describe it, she would compare it to a warm embrace going cold. Her sense of satisfaction replaced by dissatisfaction.

She had no idea that Twiggy had landed on her head and was using her powers to help Tomoe feel the imbalance between her and Kagami. Teaching the woman that they're many forms of respect and one of them is respecting your child enough to make good judgments for themselves.

Tomoe rubbed her forehead and started over. "I apologize Kagami. You are correct, you are not me and I am not you." She flexed her hands over the top of her bokken.

"When I was around your age the one friend I had started to pull away. She was not content with the simplicity and traditional way we were being raised. I felt betrayed and said things I now regret."

Kagami looked at her mom, holding her breath to see what happened next. "Maybe if I had been more open minded I wouldn't have believed friendship was nothing except a distraction and heartbreaking.

You're still grounded for two weeks for disobeying me. When your grounding is over, I would like to meet your friends for myself."

"Thank you mother," Kagami replied with a smile. She winked at Redda and Twiggy as the Kwamiis bowed before departing.

* * *

Ning had finished packing up and was having some tea with her adoptive father and the two young heroes before heading out. Taking a small sip she listened fondly as the young couple talked about the changes in the classroom.

"There's no more tension in class. Everyone is getting along better and in some ways, I think our bonds of friendship are even stronger than before," Adrien exclaimed.

Marinette nodded as she added the vicious attacks on the class had stopped. "We never found out who was behind the problems, but judging by the way Lila has sulking for days, we suspect she was behind them. Either way, we're happy to have things returning to normal."

"Excellent news. I'm very glad to see the Friendship Miraculous Circle was able to accomplish their mission. I'm sure they'll be exultant to hear the news," Master Fu replied.

The Kwamiis had already gone back into dormancy for their safety. A quick jaunt into the kwami world would let them know they accomplished their mission. With these renewed bonds, it would be harder for Hawkmoth to turn the class into Akumas.

Ning put down her cup of tea. "I'm pleased to be leaving Paris again on such a high note. More importantly, I'm pleased that I am one hundred percent healed and don't have to worry about being out of action anymore.

I hope the next time I'm in Paris, the situation with Hawkmoth and Mayura won't be so drastic." The others nodded in agreement as they continued to enjoy the peace of the moment.


End file.
